In Matt Gaetz Scandal, Circumstances Left Teen Vulnerable to Exploitation

Washington, D.C. – November 15, 2025

Newly unsealed court documents paint a harrowing picture of desperation and power imbalances at the heart of allegations against former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. The story centers on a 17-year-old high school junior from Florida, whose economic hardships and unstable living situation propelled her into a web of exploitation involving the then-rising Republican congressman and his associates.

The young woman, identified in legal filings only as A.B. and now an adult, emerged as the key witness in a federal sex trafficking probe that shadowed Gaetz's career for years. According to details confirmed by her attorney, Laura B. Wolf, to The New York Times, the teenager was working part-time at a McDonald's in 2017 while bouncing in and out of homeless shelters alongside one of her parents.

Her modest earnings were earmarked for something achingly ordinary: saving up for braces to fix her teeth, a basic need that underscored the profound poverty she endured.

Driven by financial desperation, the girl turned to a "sugar dating" website, a platform that connects young women with older men in exchange for money or gifts. It was there that she first encountered Joel Greenberg, the Seminole County tax collector and a close friend of Gaetz, who would later plead guilty to federal charges including underage sex trafficking and serve over a decade in prison.

Greenberg paid her $400 per encounter for sex on at least seven occasions and introduced her to ecstasy, according to court records and her testimony.

 From there, her path intersected with Gaetz, then a 35-year-old member of Congress, at a July 2017 party hosted by Chris Dorworth, a prominent lobbyist and Trump fundraiser.The gathering at Dorworth's home, described in affidavits as involving alcohol, cocaine, middle-aged men, and young women, allegedly devolved into explicit encounters. The teenager testified that she had sex with Gaetz twice that night—once on a pool table and once on an air hockey table—receiving $400 in payment each time.

She further claimed to have witnessed Gaetz using cocaine during the event, with Dorworth observing at least one of the acts.

These details, long redacted, were unsealed last month in a Central Florida civil lawsuit tied to Greenberg's crimes, thrusting the woman's story into the public eye for the first time.Experts in sex trafficking emphasize that cases like this exist on a "spectrum of exploitation," where physical coercion is just one tactic among many. "In other cases, the girls or women find themselves at the whims of more powerful men after turning to sex work out of economic need," notes a New York Times analysis of the broader investigation.

For this young woman, the imbalance was stark: a homeless high schooler with "little economic security," as her attorney put it, versus influential figures wielding financial leverage and political clout.

The scandal first erupted in 2021, when the Justice Department launched a probe into Gaetz over allegations of paying for sex with multiple women, including minors, and transporting them across state lines. While federal prosecutors ultimately declined to charge him—citing concerns over the witness's credibility under cross-examination—a bipartisan House Ethics Committee report released in late 2024 found "substantial evidence" that Gaetz had violated Florida's statutory rape laws and engaged in prostitution.

The committee also uncovered evidence of drug use and improper gifts, recommendations that likely factored into Gaetz's abrupt resignation from Congress earlier this year.Gaetz's bid for attorney general under President-elect Donald Trump in early 2025 collapsed amid bipartisan Senate opposition, with critics resurfacing the ethics findings and questioning his fitness for the nation's top law enforcement role.

 In a statement to Newsweek following the latest disclosures, Gaetz vehemently denied the allegations, calling the woman's story "fiction" and asserting she "never sued me."

He has long maintained that the probe was a politically motivated smear, part of an extortion attempt against him.The woman's decision to speak out now, through her attorney, stems from a desire for greater public understanding of victimhood's hidden layers. "The vulnerable circumstances most crime victims face are rarely known to the public," Wolf told The New York Times.

"Power imbalances can be age, but they can also be financial." Her account has elicited widespread outrage online and from lawmakers, with Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith (D) decrying on Bluesky: "This poor girl was homeless and in deep poverty while Gaetz [was] running around in the top circles of Washington."

Others, like MSNBC contributor Rotimi Adeoye, called for accountability across the board: "Every single person involved... should face serious consequences."

As the dust settles on Gaetz's political downfall, this case serves as a stark reminder of the societal failures that leave young people—especially those in poverty—susceptible to predation. Advocates argue it underscores the urgent need for robust safety nets, from affordable housing to economic support, to prevent such tragedies. For the woman at its center, the path forward involves not just personal healing but a broader push to humanize the unseen struggles of those ensnared in exploitation's grip. 17GEN4.com