Newly unsealed court documents reveal Matt Gaetz exploited an underage ‘homeless’ girl for sex

Washington, D.C. – Newly unsealed court documents obtained by The New York Times have detailed the desperate circumstances of the 17-year-old girl—referred to only as Victim A—who accused former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) of statutory rape in 2017.

Described in the files as “a then-homeless 17-year-old high schooler,” the girl was a Florida high school junior who sometimes lived with a parent in a homeless shelter, worked at McDonald’s, and on a “sugar dating” website to earn money for braces.

The documents, stemming from a dropped civil case filed by former Florida state Rep. Chris Dorworth after the teen’s lawyers contacted him in late 2022, were reported by The New York Times on Thursday.

The unsealed files align closely with the December 2024 bipartisan House Ethics Committee report, which found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz, then 35, violated Florida’s statutory rape laws by having sex with the underage girl at a party on July 15, 2017. Victim A, who played a pivotal role in the Department of Justice’s investigation into Gaetz, has since moved to Texas and continues working in the food industry, the Times reported.

The court documents paint a grim picture of Victim A’s life in 2017. A junior struggling with homelessness, she worked long shifts at McDonald’s while occasionally residing in a shelter with a parent.

To fund orthodontic treatment, she created a profile on a sugar dating platform, claiming to be 18 to meet the site’s age requirement. It was through this platform that she allegedly met Joel Greenberg, a former Gaetz associate and Seminole County tax collector who pleaded guilty in 2021 to sex trafficking a minor, among other charges.

According to the unsealed files, Greenberg met Victim A multiple times, provided her with ecstasy, and paid her for sex. On July 15, 2017, Greenberg brought her to a party hosted by Dorworth in Lake Mary, Florida, where Gaetz and his then-girlfriend were also guests.

The event, described in the documents as involving “alcohol; cocaine; middle-aged men; and young attractive females,” became the setting for the alleged encounters.

In sworn testimony before the House Ethics Committee, Victim A stated she danced naked in front of Dorworth and had sex with Gaetz twice during the party. One encounter allegedly occurred on a “pool table or air hockey table,” with Dorworth watching and later “[laughing] about it with other partygoers,” per the documents. Victim A said she was paid $400 for the encounters.

Her lawyer, Laura B. Wolf, confirmed key details to The New York Times, noting consistency with the Ethics Committee findings.

House Ethics Committee: “Substantial Evidence” of Statutory Rape

The December 2024 House Ethics Committee report was damning. It stated: “The Committee received credible testimony from Victim A herself, as well as multiple individuals corroborating the allegation. Several of those witnesses have also testified under oath before a federal grand jury and in civil litigation. Representative Gaetz denied the allegations but refused to testify under oath.”

The report directly refuted Gaetz’s public denials: “He has publicly stated that Victim A ‘doesn’t exist’ and that he has not ‘had sex with a 17-year-old since I was 17.’ The Committee found that to be untrue and determined that there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz had sex with Victim A in July 2017, when she was 17 years old, and he was 35.”

Crucially, the committee found that Gaetz did not learn Victim A was 17 until more than a month after their first sexual encounters. However, it emphasized, “Statutory rape is a strict liability crime.”

Even after learning her age, Gaetz maintained contact, and less than six months after she turned 18, he allegedly met her again for commercial sex.

The report expressed sympathy for Victim A, noting she “cooperated with DOJ’s investigation for years and was let down by the justice system when reports circulated that DOJ would be unlikely to pursue charges.”

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Matt Gaetz and Dorworth’s Vehement Denials

Gaetz, now 43, texted The New York Times, “I never had sex with this person. 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.”

Dorworth has “strenuously denied” all allegations, insisting he was not present at the party and that the claims are part of a smear campaign.

In February 2023, the Department of Justice announced it would not pursue charges against Gaetz, who had been Donald Trump’s initial choice for attorney general. The DOJ also declined to charge Dorworth. Despite the lack of criminal prosecution, the Ethics Committee’s findings led to intense political pressure.

Gaetz resigned from Congress in November 2024, just days after the Ethics report was leaked to the public. He withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general shortly thereafter, citing a desire to avoid “distractions” for the Trump administration.

The unsealing of these documents comes at a time of heightened scrutiny over powerful men and underage exploitation, amplified by the ongoing release of Jeffrey Epstein files.

On November 12, the House Oversight Committee released Phase 2 of the Epstein documents, including 2015 emails in which Epstein offered to “craft” a response for Trump to CNN questions about their relationship. Trump has repeatedly dismissed the files as a “Democrat hoax” planted by deep-state operatives, a claim he reiterated on July 28, via Truth Social.

The unsealed documents have reignited calls for a DOJ review of the Gaetz case.

The case has also intersected with broader cultural debates. On the same day the Times story broke, Megyn Kelly faced backlash for downplaying Epstein’s abuse on her podcast, and former model Stacey Williams accused Trump of groping her after Epstein “delivered” her in the 1990s.