Oct. 16 (UPI) — Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and two others have been accused of sex trafficking recent high school graduates in a new lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, former Florida state Rep. Chris Dorworth and former tax collector Joel Micah Greenberg carried out a sex trafficking scheme that involved recruiting young women to perform sexual acts for money and drugs.
The alleged activity took place from 2017 to 2019, during which Gaetz represented Florida in Congress.
“The defendants collectively used their public office, power, and wealth to prey on the economic vulnerability of Plaintiffs to commit the acts,” the lawsuit says.
The victims, referred to as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, are described only as recent high school graduates.
In a statement to the Miami Herald, Gaetz said the allegations against him are false.
“The lawsuit relies almost exclusively on a Congressional Committee report that didn’t allow me to confront my accusers,” Gaetz said. “Now I will finally have that chance.”
The report Gaetz referred to was released by the House Ethics Committee in December 2024. It says that Gaetz “engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl” in 2017. He also paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex and drugs in more than 20 other incidents.
Greenberg, the former tax collector for Seminole County, Fla., and close associate of Gaetz, pleaded guilty to six federal offenses in 2021, including sex trafficking of a child. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Dorworth is accused of facilitating the alleged illegal activities at his home with the lawsuit saying that he “knowingly participated in these events.” One of the plaintiffs says that they witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old at Dorworth’s home during a party.