Gaetz Faces Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Amid Ethics Scandal

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Disgraced former Congressman Matt Gaetz is facing a new lawsuit alleging his involvement in a sex trafficking scheme, according to a federal civil complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The 38-page complaint names Gaetz, former Florida state Rep. Chris Dorworth, and Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Seminole County, as co-defendants. Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, the plaintiffs, are seeking a jury trial.

“I look forward to taking the plaintiffs’ depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false,” Gaetz stated in a public statement. “The lawsuit relies almost exclusively on a Congressional Committee report that didn’t allow me to confront my accusers. Now I will finally have that chance.”

The lawsuit comes amid years of scrutiny over Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct. He resigned in November 2024 after President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as U.S. attorney general, but he failed to secure enough support and withdrew the nomination. His abrupt resignation from Congress came just days before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on whether to release a report detailing its findings from an investigation into sexual misconduct. The Ethics Committee concluded that it found evidence that Gaetz violated statutory rape laws and paid multiple women for sex between 2017 and 2020.

The investigation centered on a 17-year-old girl who was homeless and seeking money for braces. According to court documents obtained by The New York Times, the girl was a high school junior living in Florida who was offering to have sex with men for money. She worked at McDonald’s and used a website to connect with older men for “sugar dating” relationships. Through the site, she first met Greenberg, a tax collector and friend of Gaetz, who paid her for sex multiple times before taking her to a party on July 15, 2017, at the home of Dorworth, then a lobbyist for Ballard Partners.

Gaetz also attended the party and, according to the girl’s testimony to the Ethics Committee, had sex with her twice. One of those encounters allegedly took place on a “pool table or … air hockey table.” Under Florida law, sexual activity between a person 24 or older and a 16- or 17-year-old is a felony. The Ethics Committee report also said Gaetz allegedly used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.

Gaetz has denied having sex with the minor and previously insisted she would not sue him because her story was false. “I never had sex with this person,” the former congressman told the Times in a text message. “This person threatened me with a lawsuit if I didn’t pay her $2.3 million dollars. … She never sued me because her story is fiction.”

In 2022, Greenberg was sentenced to more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to underage sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, and several other crimes. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Gaetz.

Meanwhile, the disgraced former lawmaker is scheduled to speak at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in December.