Ousted Florida Republican Party Chairman Won’t Be Charged With Sexual Assault

The former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who was ousted earlier this month amid a criminal investigation will not be charged with sexual battery, the Sarasota Police Department said on Friday. But the authorities will seek to charge him with video voyeurism, a felony.

Christian Ziegler, the ousted chairman, recorded a sexual encounter he had in October with a woman who later accused him of assault. The recording occurred without her knowledge or consent, the Police Department said in a statement. Officers prepared a probable cause affidavit for the video voyeurism charge and sent it to state prosecutors on Friday.

They did not pursue a more serious sexual battery charge because the video, which the police obtained, “showed that the encounter was likely consensual,” the statement said.

The woman, whose name has been redacted from public records, told the police that she had had a consensual sexual encounter with Mr. Ziegler and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, more than a year ago, but that she had declined to have sex with Mr. Ziegler on Oct. 2 after realizing that his wife would not be joining them.