ORLANDO, Fla. – Developer, lobbyist and former state legislator Christopher Dorworth has dismissed a defamation lawsuit he filed last year against a woman who was the victim of child sex trafficking by former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, court records show.
The woman, who is identified in court documents by her initials A.B., was 17 years old in 2017 when Greenberg admitted to having sex with her.
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Greenberg is serving an 11-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to child sex trafficking, aggravated identity theft, and other federal offenses.
Dorworth sued A.B., Greenberg, and Greenberg’s family last year for claims that include defamation and racketeering.
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The former GOP lawmaker accused A.B. of conspiring with Greenberg and others to falsely “frame” Dorworth and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz of sexual misconduct in an attempt to mitigate Greenberg’s prison sentence.
Dorworth alleged that Greenberg paid A.B.’s legal bills to influence her testimony to federal law enforcement, according to his most recent amended complaint.
Lawyers representing A.B. denied those allegations in a motion filed last year seeking to dismiss Dorworth’s lawsuit.
In that same June 2023 court filing, A.B.’s lawyers acknowledged there had been settlement talks with Dorworth’s attorney over claims that “relate to A.B.’s experiences being sex trafficked and statutorily raped by Plaintiff.”
The U.S. Department of Justice closed its investigation into A.B.’s allegations without filing criminal charges against Dorworth or Gaetz, and both men have adamantly denied wrongdoing.
Last week, attorneys representing Dorworth and A.B. filed court papers announcing they had “reached a resolution of this matter” and that A.B. was dismissed as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Dorworth’s litigation against Greenberg and others remains ongoing. Those defendants have filed motions seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.
“Two years ago, I received a letter sent by a lawyer on behalf of a woman I never met who was accusing me of crimes I did not commit and who was seeking money that I did not owe,” Dorworth wrote in a statement posted on his Facebook page Friday. “This wasn’t a mere case of legal (but unethical) extortion — this was a threat of character assassination because if I didn’t pay up, I was told, then my false accuser would name me as a co-defendant in a lawsuit with my friend, Congressman Matt Gaetz, whom she also falsely accused of sex crimes when she was a minor.”
Dorworth said he named A.B. as a defendant in his lawsuit to prove she lied.
“Yesterday, she has agreed not to pursue her bogus claims against me in court,” wrote Dorworth. “The reason for her change of heart is simple: she had to undergo a deposition where the facts showed she had not met me, and she and her friend who was a party to her fraud couldn’t keep their stories straight.”
Dorworth, who referred to A.B. as a “prostitute and producer of graphic online pornography” in his statement but did not identify her by name, said there is no evidence he had previously met her.
“I underwent a polygraph test administered by a former FBI agent with 35 years of experience,” Dorworth wrote in the Facebook post. “Witnesses testified to my absence from the alleged locations, and geodata from my phone corroborated my whereabouts. I provided comprehensive evidence demonstrating that I was not present at the places and times claimed by these lawyers.”
A.B.’s attorney, Laura Wolf, also issued a statement Friday.
“Our client is happy to be done with this bizarre lawsuit,” said Wolf. “This case never should have been filed and her dismissal out of it was just a matter of time. She is looking forward to moving on with her life. Mr. Dorworth’s Facebook post, like his now dismissed claims, is not grounded in reality. We’ll just leave it at that.”
Dorworth said he suspected A.B.’s allegations originated from Greenberg after Dorworth reportedly ridiculed his former friend’s desire to obtain a presidential pardon.
“(Greenberg) thought a pardon would make his legal troubles go away, believing that Gaetz’s relationship to President Trump or my lobbying firm’s relationship with the administration would somehow secure him a full and complete pardon reminiscent of Nixon after Watergate,” wrote Dorworth. “Delusional fantasies.”
Dorworth’s attorney, State Rep. R. Alex Andrade, told News 6 by email that no money was exchanged between Dorworth and A.B. as part of the dismissal.
“The parties continue to dispute any basis for liability to one another,” said Andrade.
Andrade began representing Dorworth in the lawsuit Thursday after another lawyer, State Rep. Michael Beltran, requested to be “relieved of any further responsibility” in Dorworth’s litigation, court records show.
The attorneys did not respond to questions inquiring about the substitution, which occurred the same day A.B. was dismissed as a defendant in Dorworth’s lawsuit.
Dorworth was elected to the Florida House in 2007 representing parts of Seminole and Orange counties. His GOP colleagues had chosen him to serve as Speaker of the House in 2014, but Dorworth was unable to assume that role after losing the 2012 election to Democrat Mike Clelland.
Dorworth quit his job at a prominent lobbying firm in 2021 as the federal investigation into A.B.’s allegations was underway.
Dorworth’s development firm, River Cross Land Co., filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this summer after unsuccessfully attempting to build a megadevelopment of homes, apartments and retail space in rural Seminole County.
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