SARASOTA, Fla. — The state attorney's office investigating the case of former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Christian Ziegler announced Wednesday that it will not file any charges.
The move comes after Sarasota Police recommended a charge of video voyeurism against Ziegler.
Police started investigating Ziegler over a sexual encounter that happened on October 2, 2023. Police began investigating an alleged sexual battery that involved Ziegler and a woman who had a previous consensual sexual encounter with Christian and his wife, Bridget Ziegler.
Sarasota Police said the investigation found video evidence that a sexual encounter happened between the victim and Christian Ziegler. He recorded the encounter on his cell phone, but police said the sexual encounter was "likely consensual."
As a result, police said detectives "were unable to develop probable cause to charge Ziegler with Sexual Battery (sic)."
Police said after showing the video to the victim, she said she was not aware she was being recorded during the encounter and didn't consent to it. Sarasota PD detectives then prepared a probable cause affidavit for a felony charge of video voyeurism against Christian Ziegler.
The state attorney's office said Wednesday that no charges would be filed, writing, "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 of consent. Accordingly, no charges will be filed."
Ziegler's attorney, Derek Byrd, esq., issued the following statement on the news of the case being dropped.
"Mr. Ziegler is relieved to be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing. We cooperated at every stage of the investigation, and as difficult as it was, we remained quiet out of respect for the investigation. 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."
Ziegler's fall was quick as news of the initial investigation broke. He was ousted as Chairman of the Republican Party after Governor Ron DeSantis and Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio called for his resignation.
Bridget Ziegler admitted to the consensual three-way encounter with the accuser, and in a 4-1 vote, the Sarasota School Board said she should resign from her position. Bridget, who helped found the conservative group Mom's for Liberty, has refused to step down.
