Christian and Bridget Ziegler are putting on a show of unity amid dramatic new developments in the rape and threesome allegations that have engulfed the Florida political power couple, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Their displays of calm togetherness come as Sarasota Police Department confirmed Friday that it has forwarded a case of ‘video voyeurism’ against Christian to the state attorney’s office.
This concerns 150 seconds of cellphone footage the former GOP Florida chair took during a sexual encounter with a woman who later accused him of raping her after she backed out of a threesome with the couple.
However, the department also confirmed Ziegler will not face rape charges over the October 2 encounter because the video showed it was ‘likely consensual’.
Embattled former Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler was seen leaving a church in downtown Sarasota on Tuesday, days after his resignation
Police said Friday that they would not file rape charges against Ziegler, but have prepared affidavits for video voyeurism charges due to an alleged secret recording he made
Ziegler showed signs of strain, at one point looking around warily before heading back to the conservative couple’s three-bedroom $508,000 home
Bridget Ziegler stepped out on Wednesday to attend a church service in Sarasota, Florida
Following the developments, the Republican’s attorney said ‘since day one, we have been confident Mr. Ziegler would be exonerated from these baseless allegations’
On Friday, Sarasota Police Department public information officer Cynthia McLaughlin said in a statement to DailyMail.com that investigators had ‘prepared a probable cause affidavit for the felony crime of Video Voyeurism against Christian Ziegler.
‘This affidavit was subsequently sent to the State Attorney’s Office for further review. As with all cases, Sarasota Police detectives handled this case with the utmost diligence and impartiality. Ziegler has cooperated with Sarasota Police throughout the investigation.’
She also said: ‘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.
‘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.’
The Florida political heavyweight, ousted from the GOP role this week over the rape accusation, faces the voyeurism allegation because the woman said she wasn’t aware he was filming and did not consent to it.
Video voyeurism in Florida is a third-degree felony and carries a possible five-year prison sentence and $5,000 fine. It is taking a video for sexual thrills without a person’s approval.
Christian Ziegler’s attorney Derek Byrd said in a statement that ‘since day one, we have been confident Mr Ziegler would be exonerated from these baseless allegations.
‘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.’
Dressed in black athletic pants, a black top and sporting Ray-Ban sunglasses, the mom-of-three was all smiles as she got out of her black Ford Explorer SUV on Wednesday
Christian adopted a more casual look with blue t-shirt, blue shorts, flip flops and a blue baseball cap bearing the American flag
Bridget Ziegler is a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a conservative organization that lobbies for school board reform and has become a powerful force in Florida politics
The dramatic development comes at the end of a tumultuous week for the Zieglers in which they battled to carry on with their lives as normal – as revealed in exclusive DailyMail.com photos.
Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget, 41, determinedly chatted happily with other parents as she picked up her children from a Baptist church in downtown Sarasota less than 24 hours after sobbing at a school board meeting on Tuesday where there were blistering demands for her resignation.
Dressed in black athletic pants, a black top and sporting Ray-Ban sunglasses, the mom-of-three was all smiles as she got out of her black Ford Explorer SUV – revealing no signs of anguish a day after facing a barrage of public speakers who denounced her for being ‘a hypocrite’.
‘She couldn’t have looked happier,’ one onlooker told DailyMail.com. ‘In fact, she looked very glamorous, no sign of tension at all. She took her time talking with other parents.’
Exclusive DailyMail.com photos also reveal Christian, 40, doing the same run in his tricked up gray Ford 150 Raptor a day earlier.
He showed more sign of strain, at one point looking around warily before heading back to the conservative couple’s three-bedroom $508,000 home in a quiet Sarasota location where both cars are on the driveway.
Christian adopted a more casual look with blue t-shirt, blue shorts, flip flops and a blue baseball cap bearing the American flag.
He always denied raping his accuser at her apartment in Sarasota on October 2, the day the couple had planned to have a threesome with her, according to an initial Sarasota Police Department search warrant affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com.
Bridget backed out of the arrangement at the last moment, according to the report, and the woman who had known the couple for 20 years also changed her mind, texting Christian: ‘Sorry I was mostly in for her.’
Ziegler previously resigned following allegations of raping the unnamed woman after she changed her mind about a threesome with him and his wife, with the woman later texting him: ‘Sorry I was mostly in for her’
The Zieglers are known as a political power couple in Flordia, with Christian the state’s former GOP Chair while Bridget became known for helping to frame Ron DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
However, the accuser alleged Christian turned up at her home alone later that evening as she was about to go out and walk her dog, entered her property and raped her.
Ziegler told detectives he recorded it on a two-and-a-half-minute video and showed it to them, according to a second search warrant affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com.
Wife Bridget was not aware of the footage until it was revealed to her as part of the police investigation, the document discloses.
‘Detectives spoke with both the victim and Ziegler’s wife,’ the second affidavit says. ‘The victim did not give Ziegler consent to take this video of them having sex. Neither of Ziegler’s wife or the victim knew anything about this video… taken of the sexual encounter on 10/02/23.’
The accuser told police she’d had a threesome with the Zieglers at their house a year earlier and that it was a one-off. Bridget Ziegler confirmed the same to cops.
Weeks after the rape allegation was reported to police, detectives began monitoring messages between Ziegler and his accuser via Instagram, say both affidavits.
The alleged victim told him: ‘I’m not okay with what happened the other day between us.’
Ziegler: ‘Oh. That’s not good. You are my friend. Known ya for like 20 years now.’
The woman: ‘I have not been able to work since you came over.’
Ziegler: ‘I’m pretty loyal to my friends.’
Woman: ‘I really can’t even talk to you right now.’
Ziegler, trying to minimize the situation according to the affidavits, continually asks how he can help and the alleged victim replies: ‘You caused this. You can’t help me.’
He then asks ‘Where r u?. Wanna meet and chat? Worried about you. You are my friend.’
Woman: ‘Hell no, not after what you did to me. Do you not understand I am terrified of you.’
Three calls to his accuser were also monitored by police. In one, the woman told him he sexually assaulted her and he replied: ‘Those are big words, please don’t. You invited me in, that’s it.’
In a 911 call on October obtained by DailyMail.com, a friend of the woman told the dispatcher: ‘She told me she was raped.
‘She says she’s scared, that the person who raped her came to her house, so she’s scared to leave… I’m worried about her right now.’ The friend said she was calling so police could do a welfare check.
Bridget Ziegler, considered a rising star in the conservative movement who has been publicly praised by Ron DeSantis, helped frame the Florida governor’s controversial Parental Rights in Education Bill, which became known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law.
She co-founded Moms for Liberty in the wake of Covid-19 school policies that some parents across the nation were impeding their children’s development.
It strongly advocates against school curricula mentioning LGBT rights, race and ethnicity, critical race theory and discrimination. Many of the organization’s chapters have campaigned to ban certain books from school libraries.
Bridget, who left the organization months after helping to establish it, was appointed to fill a vacancy of Sarasota County School Board by then Florida governor Rick Scott in June 2014. She was elected to a four-year the following November and re-elected in 2018 and 2022.
Bridget has faced growing calls for her resignation in the wake of the scandal
A protestor arrives for a rally where the public education support group Support Our Schools calling for Bridget’s resignation from the Sarasota County School Board
However, on Tuesday she faced renewed calls to quit during a heated three-hour meeting when 67 public speakers came forward, the majority demanding her resignation.
She sat stone-faced for much of the barrage, but at one point wiped away a tear as the insults and accusations flew in her direction.
‘Turns out you are a hypocrite of the worst order,’ retired deputy superintendent of Maryland schools John Smeallie told her. ‘Despite your attacks on the LGTBQ-plus community, it would you appear that you are part of it. Certainly a B, maybe a plus.
‘If this is your approach to education then you are unfit to serve on any board.’
Mother-of-three Jennifer Bowles told her from the podium she had ‘underestimated’ Ziegler’s ‘commitment to political theater’.
She added: ‘You can’t possibly enjoy having your personal life spread all over for the world to see and for the media to report on. I think you won’t resign because your job of destroying public education isn’t done.’
One person said simply: ‘Why won’t you step down? And another chimed in: ‘We are now famous, or infamous as the case may be, because of you and your husband’s antics.’
The school board has passed a resolution for her to step down, but cannot force her to resign. It was drafted by board chair Karen Rose who has said she is ‘shocked and saddened’ by the rape allegation and the couple’s admission of a three-way encounter.
However, Ziegler again refused to quit on Tuesday night. She has previously defended her record on the school board, saying the policy changes she supports are too important for her to leave.