Prosecutors won’t pursue charges against Christian Ziegler

Christian Ziegler. Image via Facebook

Ousted Republican Party of Florida Chair Christian Ziegler won’t face criminal charges in a sex scandal.

While Sarasota police forwarded a video voyeurism charge to be brought against Ziegler, prosecutors in Florida’s 12th Judicial Circuit said they will not do so. Police said Ziegler filmed a sexual encounter with a woman who in October had accused him of rape.

Based partially on that video and inconsistencies with the woman’s account, police did not pursue rape charges and determined the sex was “likely consensual.” But the woman, who said she was intoxicated at the time of the encounter, said she had no knowledge she would be filmed.

Ultimately, concerns about the woman’s account appeared to shape prosecutors’ decision not to pursue any charges.

“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,” reads a memo from prosecutors.

Derek Byrd, an attorney for Ziegler, said the decision validated what his client maintained all along.

“Mr. Ziegler is relieved to be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing,” a statement from the attorney reads.

“We cooperated at every stage of 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.”

Over the course of the investigation, details about the relationship between Zeigler, the woman and Ziegler’s wife, Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, have proven to be politically devastating. All parties have told police in interviews that they had previously engaged in a three-way sexual encounter.

Over the course of the investigation, court documents show the woman and the Zieglers had planned a three-way sexual encounter the day of the incident. But Christian Ziegler informed her ahead of arriving that Bridget Ziegler would not attend. The woman told him not to come over. “Sorry I was mostly in for her,” she wrote in a digital message.

Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, admitted to police the couple engaged in a three-way sex encounter with the woman more than a year prior. She said she had no plans for an encounter later.

The Republican Party of Florida in January fired Ziegler as state Chair. Bridget Ziegler has faced similar calls to vacate her School Board seat, but has not done so. She also served as a board member on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, and recently attended a press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis related to those duties. But she has parted ways with The Leadership InstituteThe Leadership Institute, where she had served as the national director of School Board Leaders Programs.

Republican Party of Sarasota Chair Jack Brill released a statement expressing a desire to put the scandal in the past. Ziegler remains the county party’s State Committeeman.

“The legal process has run its course and the political process has run its course and now we can all move on with the business of electing Republicans without further distractions,” Brill said.

Christian Ziegler Decline Charges by Jacob Ogles on Scribd