Ousted Republican Party of Florida Chairman Christian Ziegler was absolved of rape allegations Friday by Sarasota police, but could still face a felony video voyeurism charge for recording a “likely consensual” sexual encounter with a woman he had invited to have a threesome with himself and his wife.
“As a result of the lengthy investigation, Sarasota Police detectives found video evidence that on October 2nd, 2023, a sexual encounter occurred between the victim and Christian Ziegler,” the Sarasota Police Department said in a statement.
“Ziegler recorded the encounter on his cell phone. The video showed that the encounter was likely consensual. Therefore, detectives were unable to develop probable cause to charge Ziegler with Sexual Battery,” authorities added.
Police said the victim told detectives that she was “unaware and did not consent to being video recorded.”
As a result, local cops have passed along a probable cause affidavit for a felony video voyeurism charge against Ziegler to the State Attorney’s Office for further review.
Video voyeurism is a third-degree felony in Florida and punishable by up to five years in prison.
“Since day one, we have been confident Mr. Ziegler would be exonerated from these baseless allegations,” Ziegler’s attorney, Derek Byrd, said in a statement.
“He has been completely honest, forthright, and has been fully cooperative with law enforcement at every stage of this investigation,” he added. “While we are disappointed that the Sarasota Police Department ‘punted’ the decision on the remaining portion of the case to the State Attorney’s office, we strongly believe that the State Attorney will not prosecute Mr. Ziegler for any crime.”
In November, a report revealed that Ziegler was under criminal investigation by Sarasota police after the unidentified woman accused him of raping her inside her home on Oct. 2, 2023.
The now-former Sunshine State GOP leader is married to Bridget Ziegler, the co-founder of parents rights group Moms for Liberty and a Sarasota County school board member.
Bridget Ziegler confirmed to investigators that she and her husband had a consensual three-way with the alleged victim, whom Christian Ziegler has known for 20 years, more than a year earlier, a police affidavit shows.
The report indicates that Christian Ziegler and the alleged victim had agreed to have another threesome the day of the alleged assault, only for the other woman to cancel at the last minute when she learned Bridget Ziegler could not make it.
“Sorry,” the accuser texted Christian Ziegler, according to the affidavit. “I was mostly in for her.”
According to court documents, Christian Ziegler then drove to the woman’s apartment and intercepted her as she was leaving to walk her dog before the two had sex.
As a result of the allegations and criminal investigation, the Republican Party of Florida formally pushed Christian Ziegler out of his role as head of the party earlier this month during an emergency meeting.
Ziegler did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
