Prosecutors won’t charge ex-Florida GOP chairman over sex video
The state attorney’s office investigating allegations against Christian Ziegler said on Wednesday that it would not bring charges against the former Republican Party of Florida chairman.
Sarasota police began investigating Ziegler over a rape allegation in October, but dropped that case in January after determining that a sexual encounter between Ziegler and his accuser was “likely consensual.” They instead sought to charge him with video voyeurism after the accuser told investigators she was unaware Ziegler had recorded the encounter.
On Wednesday, however, prosecutors with the state attorney’s office representing Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties said they lacked sufficient evidence to prove Ziegler videotaped the sexual encounter without the accuser’s consent.
In a statement, Ziegler’s attorney, Derek Byrd, said his client is “relieved to finally be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing.”
“On day one, we said that Mr. Ziegler was completely innocent and we asked everyone not to rush to judgement, and instead to presume Mr. Ziegler innocent — as the Constitution instructs,” Byrd said. “Unfortunately, many did not award that courtesy to Mr. Ziegler, damaging his family, career, and reputation throughout this process.”
In an interview with the state attorney’s office, the accuser acknowledged that it was possible that she consented to video-recording and noted that she and Ziegler had discussed videotaping a sexual encounter at least once before,
Christian Ziegler
according to a letter that prosecutors sent to Sarasota police.
Ziegler, according to the letter, also told law enforcement that he and the accuser had discussed videotaping the encounter for his wife, Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, to view.
Prosecutors wrote that, while the video of the encounter did “not capture any explicit statements indicating the Victim knew of, and consented to, the recording,” it showed that “the phone was visible either in the Defendant’s hand or on the bed where the sexual encounter occurred, and the Defendant picked up the phone to end the recording while standing a few feet from the Victim, who was laying on the bed when the recording ended.”
“The Victim’s expressed inability to recall whether she consented to recording the sexual activity along with her inconsistencies pertaining to key details of the event leave the State unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the video in question was filmed without her knowledge or consent,” prosecutors wrote. “Accordingly, no charges will be filed.”
While Ziegler will not face any charges stemming from the monthslong investigation, the allegations against him roiled the Florida Republican Party and brought about a remarkable fall from grace for the former state GOP chairman, who saw salacious details of his personal and marital life aired publicly.
The allegations centered on an early October sexual encounter between Ziegler and a woman with whom he and his wife had planned to have a consensual three-way sexual encounter. According to investigators, Bridget Ziegler was unable to attend. Christian Ziegler then showed up at the accuser’s home, where she said he proceeded to have sex with her without her consent.
Ziegler insisted throughout the investigation that the encounter was consensual. Still, the details of the case prompted calls for Ziegler to resign as Florida GOP chairman, and Florida GOP officials voted in January to remove him from the chairmanship after he refused to step down.
Bridget Ziegler, who helped found the conservative Moms for Liberty organization, has also faced calls to step down from her post on the Sarasota County School Board. She has also refused to resign.
“The legal process has run its course and the political process has run its course,” Jack Brill, chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota County, said Wednesday in a statement. “And now we can all move on with the business of electing Republicans without further distractions.”