Teen at center of Matt Gaetz sex scandal was homeless and needed money for braces: report

A woman has come forward to tell her story after the House Ethics Committee determined that then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sexually abused her when she was just 17.

Laura B. Wolf, an attorney for the girl, spoke to The New York Times about the ordeal. The paper got in touch with Wolf after a federal judge in Florida unsealed court documents that described the victim as "a then-homeless 17-year-old high schooler."

Wolf said her client was living with a parent in a homeless shelter and trying to save up enough money to buy braces to fix her teeth when she falsely advertised herself as an 18-year-old on a "sugar daddy" dating website in 2017.

"The vulnerable circumstances most crime victims face are rarely known to the public," Wolf told the paper. "Although my client's circumstances were revealed outside of her control, I hope it helps for the public to see a fuller and more human picture of her than the press has reported on to date."

"Power imbalances can be age, but they can also be financial. My client had little economic security, which allowed for financial leverage over her," she added.

The girl was later introduced to Gaetz through his friend Joel Greenberg, who had sex with her seven times, paying $400 on each occasion.

She would later testify that Trump fundraiser Chris Dorworth witnessed her having sex with Gaetz on a pool table or air hockey table at a party at his home. She also told investigators that she witnessed Gaetz using cocaine that night. She said she was paid $400 for having sex with Gaetz twice that night.

According to the report, the girl eventually saved enough money from the encounters to afford braces.

For his part, Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.