Police have cleared the ousted chair of the Florida Republican Party of rape allegations, but have asked prosecutors to charge him with video voyeurism
Police cleared the ousted chair of the Florida Republican Party of rape allegations on Friday, but said they have asked prosecutors to charge him with illegally video recording the sexual encounter he had with a female acquaintance.
The Sarasota Police Department said in a statement that a review of a cellphone video Christian Ziegler made of the Oct. 2 encounter showed that it was “likely consensual,” making it impossible to charge him with rape. However, police said the woman told investigators that she never consented to be video recorded and was unaware it had occurred.
Police turned their findings over to the office of Sarasota County State Attorney Ed Brodsky on Friday, recommending that Ziegler be charged video voyeurism. Under Florida law, that is a third-degree felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Brodsky told The Associated Press that his prosecutors will begin an immediate examination of the evidence and recommendation. He said they will also review the decision not to charge Ziegler with rape or sexual assault.
“We want to be thorough,” said Brodsky, an elected Republican.
Derek Byrd, Ziegler’s attorney, said in a statement that “since day one, we have been confident Mr. Ziegler would be exonerated from these baseless allegations.”
“He has been completely honest, forthright, and has been fully cooperative with law enforcement at every stage of this investigation,” Byrd said. “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.
