A search warrant affidavit and 911 audio released to news outlets on Friday sheds more light on the allegations that Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler sexually assaulted a woman with whom he and his wife, co-founder of Moms For Liberty, had had a previous menage a trois.
The woman, a longtime friend of Ziegler’s, told Sarasota police she “was sexually involved one time over a year ago” with Ziegler and his wife, and had agreed to have a second sexual encounter with the couple on Oct. 2. But when the missus, Bridget Ziegler, was unable to make it, the woman told investigators she canceled the plans, texting Christian Ziegler that she was “mostly in it for” his wife.
Shortly after, the woman said she went to walk her dog, and when she opened her door, Ziegler was standing in her apartment hallway. He then entered her apartment and allegedly raped her.
Surveillance footage shows Zeigler arriving at the apartment and leaving 38 minutes later.
Following the assault, the victim called her sister and went to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where a sexual assault kit was performed. The assault was reported to police two days later, as an audio call reveals a co-worker asked law enforcement to provide a wellness check on the woman after she had failed to show up at work for two days.
“She hasn’t shown up for work the past two days and I just got off the phone with her and she sounds drunk and I know she has pain medication on her and she told me that she doesn’t think she can do it anymore,” the caller told the 911 dispatcher.
TBTimes
The Zieglers are high-profile Florida moral crusaders.
Christian Ziegler is at the helm of the Florida Republican Party.
Bridget Ziegler is a Sarasota School Board member and a co-founder of Moms for Liberty.
According to ABC Action News’ reporting on the search warrant affidavit, investigators learned on Oct. 27 that Ziegler was sending messages to the victim via Instagram. Police then began monitoring and recording the messages.
On Nov. 1, investigators interviewed Bridget Ziegler, who confirmed that she knew the victim through her husband and that the three of them had had a sexual encounter one time over a year ago.
The affidavit also states that, in an interview with his attorney present, Christian Ziegler told detectives that he had consensual sex with the woman and recorded it. He said he initially deleted the video but then uploaded it to his Google Drive after learning of the allegation. Police said in the affidavit that they had not recovered the video.