Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll has apologized for saying that she doesn't look like a gay woman and suggesting single women cannot be trusted.

Carroll made the comments in the course of denying claims she fired a staffer who caught her in “a compromising position” with her travel aide, Beatrice Ramos.

The former aide, Carletha Cole, 49, made the accusation in the course of defending herself against charges she illegally leaked taped conversations of Carroll's staff to a Florida newspaper, Reuters reported. Cole denies she made the recording.

In court filings, Cole claims she was fired shortly after she walked in on Carroll and Ramos.

“The problem is that when you have these accusations that come out, it's not just one person you're attacking. It's an entire family. My husband doesn't want to hear that. He knows the type of woman I am. I mean, my kids know the type of woman I am. For twenty-nine years – I'm the one that's married for twenty-nine years. The accuser is the one that's been single for a long time. So usually black women that look like me don't engage in relationships like that,” Carroll told reporters.

Carroll apologized in a letter to Equality Florida Director Nadine Smith.

“It is wrong and inexcusable to make a comment that hurts people, and that was not my intention. As a Christian, my faith guides me to love and respect all people. The false charges that have been lodged against me are no excuse for what I have said that may have been hurtful to members of your organization and to other Floridians,” she wrote.

“Please know that I am committed to treating every person with the utmost courtesy, respect and dignity and I hope you will accept my heartfelt apology.”

Smith had criticized Carroll in an op-ed published on The Grio: “Instead of simply denying the claims, she stereotyped black lesbians in order to deflect her own. With that one quick statement, Lt. Governor Carroll appealed to racial and homophobic stereotypes that do real harm.”