The former chair of the Florida Republican Party will not be charged with video voyeurism, according to the state attorney’s office in Sarasota County, Florida.
Christian Ziegler was ousted from his role atop the state party earlier this year amid an investigation into a woman’s rape allegations against him. While authorities declined to bring sexual battery charges against Ziegler, concluding a video of the sexual encounter showed it was “likely consensual,” they announced in January that they would seek to charge him with illegally recording the encounter.
In a memo obtained by CNN, prosecutors said they were declining to pursue video voyeurism charges against Ziegler because they found inconsistencies in the woman’s statements.
“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. Accordingly, no charges will be filed,” the memo states.
Ziegler’s attorney said his client is “relieved to finally be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing.”
“We cooperated at every stage of investigation and as difficult as it was, we remained quiet out of respect for the investigation,” attorney Derek 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.”
Ziegler came under investigation in October, after the woman accused him of raping her after she canceled a three-way sexual encounter with Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, a Sarasota County School Board member, and co-founder of the conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty.
In January, after reviewing the video Ziegler recorded on his cell phone of the sexual encounter, the Sarasota Police Department concluded it “likely consensual.” Police said that in an interview with the woman, she was shown the video and told investigators that she did not consent to the recording. In Florida, videotaping a sexual encounter without consent is a third-degree felony.
“The video shows the phone was visible either in the Defendant’s hand or on the bed where the sexual encounter occurred,” prosecutors wrote in the memo, adding that the recording “did not appear to be taken from any hidden device or secretive angle that would tend to show that a phone recording a video was being hidden from the Victim.”
Prosecutors said that inconsistencies in the woman’s story “appear to be the result of substantial intoxication and trauma,” noting that she never tried to significantly change her account or push authorities to file charges.
News of the investigation, first reported by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, sparked an immediate backlash. There were calls for the Zieglers to resign from their high-profile positions. Christian Ziegler refused and was voted out of his leadership role in January. Bridget Ziegler, who was never accused of criminal wrongdoing, continues to face calls to step down from the Sarasota County School Board.
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