Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler won’t be charged with sexual battery in a case stemming from a sexual encounter with a woman in October, police have announced. Official Photo courtesy Sarasota County, Fla.
Jan. 20 (UPI) — Former Florida Republican Party chairman Christian Ziegler won’t be charged with sexual battery following a months-long investigation of a sexual battery claim against him, police have announced.
Sarasota Police said this week evidence they have obtained indicates a sexual encounter between Ziegler and a female accuser in October was likely was consensual, but an illegal video recording made by Ziegler of the episode might result in a felony charge of video voyeurism.
“Sarasota Police detective found video evidence that on Oct. 2, 2023, a sexual encounter occurred between the victim and Christian Ziegler,” police said in a press release issued Thursday. “Ziegler recorded the encounter on his cell phone. The video showed that the encounter likely was consensual.”
Because the video showed the encounter likely was consensual, authorities said the detectives couldn’t develop probable cause to charge Ziegler with sexual battery. They said investigators conducted nearly a dozen interviews, reviewed several hours of surveillance footage and searched through videos and images stored on cell phones and cloud data backups while probing the matter.
Ziegler’s accuser told detectives she was unaware he recorded the encounter and did not consent to being recorded on video. Because she didn’t consent to the video recording, detectives on Friday prepared a probable cause affidavit for a felony video voyeurism charge against Ziegler and forwarded it to the state attorney’s office for review.
Ziegler, his wife, and the woman allegedly arranged a three-way encounter at the woman’s apartment, but Ziegler’s wife decided not to participate. Instead, Ziegler and his accuser met and had sexual relations, which he recorded without her consent on his cellphone.
Ziegler’s wife, Bridget, is a co-founder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty. Ziegler was the Florida GOP state party chairman until the organization ousted him earlier this month.
Ziegler’s attorney, Derek Byrd, said in a statement issued to media outlets he doesn’t believe the State Attorney will charge Ziegler with any crime in the matter.
Prosecutors had yet to announce if they would charge Ziegler for a video voyeurism as of Saturday.
Sarasota Police said Ziegler cooperated with the investigation into the matter.