The Sarasota State Attorney’s office said Wednesday it would not charge Christian Ziegler with video voyeurism, bringing to an apparent end to the sex scandal that cost Ziegler his job as chair of the Florida Republican Party.
Ziegler was under investigation by Sarasota police after a woman claimed he sexually assaulted her in October. Police declined to pursue sexual battery charges against Ziegler in January but submitted potential charges of voyeurism to the state attorney’s office after learning he had recorded the encounter.
In a memo released Wednesday, assistant state attorneys S. Ethan Dunn, Kate Metz and Brian Chambers said there wasn’t enough evidence to prove in court that the video was made without the woman’s knowledge.
“Mr. Ziegler is relieved to be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing,” wrote Derek Byrd, Ziegler’s attorney, in an email.
While the video itself does not include any statements from the woman that she consented to recording, it “did not appear to be taken from any hidden device or secretive angle,” the memo states.
The woman also told the state attorney’s office that she was “simply unable to recall one way or another” if she consented to the video. Her inconsistencies appeared to be due to the “substantial intoxication and trauma that the victim was experiencing,” the memo states.
“We cooperated at every stage of investigation and as difficult as it was, we remained quiet out of respect for the investigation,” Byrd said. “On day one, we said that Mr. Ziegler was completely innocent. We asked everyone not to rush to judgement, and reminded everyone to presume Mr. Ziegler innocent — as the Constitution instructs. Unfortunately, many did not award that courtesy to Mr. Ziegler, damaging his family, career, and reputation throughout this process.”
The state attorney’s office memo said there was “no apparent evidence that the victim in this case had any financial, political, or malicious personal motivation to report this incident and initiate a police investigation into [Ziegler].”
The investigation included acknowledgment from both Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, a member of both the Sarasota School Board and the tourism board overseeing Walt Disney World, that they had both had a previous sexual encounter with the woman, according to an affidavit.
The revelations about Christian Ziegler led to immediate calls for his resignation as state GOP chair by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other prominent Florida Republicans. He was stripped of his powers and pay in December and officially removed as chair in January, replaced by vice chair Evan Power.
Ziegler also was censured by the state party for having “engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office of Chairman …. [and] has injured the good name of the Republican Party of Florida.”
The Sarasota School Board called for Bridget Ziegler to resign in December, but she remains on that board and the tourism board appointed by DeSantis to replace the Disney-controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District.
