Federal lawsuit accuses Matt Gaetz, 2 others of sex trafficking

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is being sued by two anonymous women over allegations that he and others sexually exploited them in their early 20s.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Middle District of Florida, also names former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg and former Florida state Rep. Chris Dorworth (R) as alleged participants in a sex-trafficking scheme that preyed on “financially vulnerable” young women.

Three dental practices associated with Greenberg are also listed as defendants in the lawsuit, which was first reported by The Miami Herald.

The women are not named in the complaint, which says that they were 20 and 22 years old, respectively, when they met Gaetz. He was a sitting member of Congress at the time.

Last year, Gaetz’s nomination to be attorney general, and his House tenure, were sunk by sexual misconduct allegations.

The lawsuit claims that between the summer of 2017 and December 2019, Gaetz and Greenberg “coordinated the recruitment, payments, drugs, and travel to obtain commercial sexual acts” from the accusers and other victims. That included arranging trips to Venice Beach, Miami, Las Vegas, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and New York City.

“These trips took Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 to places they had never been and into rooms with men they would never otherwise have met, and every part of that access, from the flights to the hotel rooms, was paid for by men, including the Defendants, who expected sex in return,” the complaint reads.

One of the women alleged she attended a party at Dorworth’s home in a gated Florida community in July 2017, where drugs were circulating “freely” and Gaetz “had sex with her in an upstairs guest bedroom.” A similar narrative was presented in reference to the other alleged victim.

The lawsuit says that Gaetz and Greenberg would make promises to help the women with their finances, including rent or college tuition, but would often withhold the full payments.

“When the venture recruited Jane Doe 1, she had no meaningful savings and no stable income,” it stated. “The venture used that need. They led her to believe they could solve her financial problems as long as she kept performing sexual acts for them and their associates.”

Gaetz resigned from the House in 2024 after he was tapped by President Trump to serve as attorney general. He later withdrew his nomination amid scrutiny into an ethics probe into separate allegations that he paid a 17-year-old high school student for sex and used illicit drugs like cocaine and ecstasy.

The House Ethics Committee ultimately found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz had committed wrongdoing, including obstructing Congress’s investigation into his conduct.

In 2023, the Justice Department declined to charge Gaetz in its sex-trafficking investigation.

Gatez has repeatedly denied having sexual contact with a minor.

The Hill has reached out to Gaetz for comment.

“Jane Doe Strikes Again!” the former congressman wrote on the social platform X on Thursday after the lawsuit was filed. “Two adult women sued me today alleging they were sex trafficked to the Bahamas.”

The post included an Instagram photo purportedly showing the two accusers and another woman on the Caribbean island. The associated username appeared no longer active as of Thursday afternoon.

“I’m shocked nobody responded to their repeated cries for help, posted to instagram,” Gaetz added.

Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2021 to six federal counts, including sex trafficking of a minor.