Joel Searby Serving Nine Years in Prison for Soliciting Minor and Possessing Exploitative Images of Kids
The political activist who led the Newberry Charter School initiative, Joel Searby, has been sentenced to ten years in prison with credit for one year of time served in jail.
In Thursday, Searby was convicted on lewd and lascivious behavior, using a two way communication device to commit a felony, two counts of obscene communication and eight counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.
Searby was arrested last year for attempting to meet up with a minor child after having a sexually charged conversation on Snapchat. Searby’s text messages show that he intended to sexually abuse the child.
Searby groomed the victim by telling him about a sexual experience he had with an an adult when he was the victim's age.
Two months after his arrest, Searby was charged again after police found sexually exploitative pictures and videos of children on his computer.
The father of the victim in Searby's first case told TV20 that his sentence was too short and called him the “Jeffrey Epstein of Alachua County."
Before his arrest, Searby had a promising political career and was a leader in the Newberry community.
Searby left the Republican Party in 2016 and later joined the Forward Party. According to the “The Long Game” podcast, Searby formerly served as the executive director of the party.
Searby worked closely with Forward Party Founding Co-Chair Andrew Yang.
Searby travelled to 18 cities in 18 weeks campaigning for the Forward Party, he told The Long Game.
Searby affirmed his leadership role in Newberry on The Long Game, saying he would host markets in his yard with thousands of people once or twice per year.
According to an article by the Alligator, Searby formerly served as a lay preacher at Greenhouse church, but the outlet didn't give many details on his role in the congregation. GnvInfo reached out to the head pastor of Greenhouse, Mike Patz, via email to ask how Searby was involved in his church. Patz has not responded.
When Searby is released from prison in 2034, he’ll be placed on sex offender probation for ten years. He will be required to publicize his address as a registered sex offender.
