A woman testified to the House Ethics Committee, claiming she had a sexual relationship with a former Congressman. When he was 17, Matt Gaetz, who attended a party at the time, had mostly completed his political career, was living part-time with a parent in a homeless shelter in Florida, and had resorted to selling items to afford braces.
The woman, who has not yet been identified, was first discussed by her lawyer in The New York Times after a federal judge released documents from a related civil lawsuit, identifying her as “a 17-year-old high school student who was homeless.”
Lawyer Laura Wolfe noted that the girl’s parents are divorced, and one of them resides in a homeless shelter. If that parent had visitation rights, the girl and her siblings would have to stay there as well.
The girl worked at McDonald’s for extra money but also lied about her age to create an account on a website that connects older men with younger women for “sugar daddy/sugar baby” arrangements.
Through this platform, she met Joel Greenberg, who was then Seminole County’s tax collector and had connections to Gaetz in 2017. According to court documents, Greenberg paid her $400 during their first encounter on a boat, provided her with ecstasy, and urged her to try it.
Before she turned 18 in December 2017, records indicate Greenberg had sexual relations with her, sometimes paying extra for drugs during these encounters.
In July of that year, both Greenberg and the girl were at a party hosted by former Florida Congressman Chris Dorworth, during which it was reported that “substantial evidence” suggested Congressman Gaetz was involved in sexual activity with her and later paid her $400.
At that time, Gaetz was 35 and taking part in activities that violated Florida’s statutory rape laws, as she had just completed high school.
Gaetz, now 43, rejected the claims made, stating via text to the Times: “I never had sex with this person. This person threatened me with a lawsuit if I didn’t pay her $2.3 million. She didn’t sue because her story is fiction.”
Despite a lengthy investigation into sex trafficking that involved Greenberg, the Justice Department chose not to prosecute Gaetz. Greenberg ultimately pled guilty in May 2021 to several charges, including child sex trafficking, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
As a part of his plea deal, Greenberg acknowledged that he had introduced the teenage girl to other adult men with whom he had commercial sexual interactions.
