TALLAHASSEE, USA: The former chair of the Republican Party of Florida has been cleared of a high-profile rape charge, but could still face a voyeurism charge.
According to police, Christian Ziegler is accused of recording a sex act without consent. A woman with whom Ziegler and his wife had a prior consensual sexual relationship previously alleged that he raped her.
Earlier this month, Republicans in Florida overwhelmingly voted to remove Mr Ziegler, 40, as their party leader.
According to the police documents, Mr Ziegler, his wife, Bridget Ziegler and the unnamed woman had planned a threesome in October last year, but Mrs Ziegler was unable to attend. Mr Ziegler instead arrived alone and assaulted the woman, the complaint alleged.
But police in Sarasota said they reviewed hours of video evidence and conducted nearly a dozen interviews and determined that it was unlikely that any sexual battery took place during the 4 October encounter.
“Ziegler recorded the encounter on his cell phone,” Sarasota Police Department said in the statement made on Thursday.
“The video showed that the encounter was likely consensual. Therefore, detectives were unable to develop probable cause to charge Ziegler with Sexual Battery.”
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However, the statement added that Mr Ziegler could still face felony charges of video voyeurism, a crime punishable by five years in prison and a $5,000 ($3,935) fine.
“The victim advised Sarasota Police detectives that she was unaware and did not consent to being video recorded,” the statement said, and added that the charge would be submitted State Attorney’s Office for further review.
A lawyer for Mr Ziegler, Derek Byrd, however, hoped in a statement that “since day one, we have been confident Mr Ziegler would be exonerated from these baseless allegations”. He was of the view that Mr Ziegler will ultimately never face any charges.
The ongoing saga has brought a rapid fall from grace for the couple, a conservative Florida power duo with growing political influence on the national stage.
