Joel Searby, a member of the Newberry Education First board has been arrested and charged for soliciting sex acts from a 15-year-old boy.
Searby, 43, is charged with felony counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, communicating to lure a minor, traveling to lure a minor and using a device to commit a felony. He is currently being held at the Alachua County Jail without bond.
According to the arrest report, Searby used the messaging platform Snapchat to send inappropriate pictures and text messages to a 15-year-old boy. He later attempted to lure him to meet up to engage in sex acts.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office took over the boy’s account and continued to communicate with Searby. This led to a judge granting a search warrant for Searby’s home.
BREAKING: Joel Searby, a member of the Newberry Education First board @yesnewberry was just arrested for allegedly soliciting s*xual acts from a 15-year-old boy.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 21, 2024
Searby reportedly sent lewd messages, multiple inappropriate photos of himself and arranged to meet the child at his… pic.twitter.com/jmouRwIdDs
Searby reportedly told the boy that when he was around the boy’s age had a “secret crush” on a man in his 40’s. He told him that initially they had kissed but then “did more stuff in secret whenever we could,” adding, “He kind of taught me stuff…”
Searby went into more detail about his sexual encounters with his older “secret crush” before asking the boy if he would ever “do that stuff.”
“I’m super secret. I have to know you will keep it between us. It’s a huge deal,” Searby wrote, according to the police report.
In 2016, Joel Searby helped launch the independent presidential campaign of former CIA officer Evan McMullin. McMullin was presented as a “former Republican” who could offer a “moderate” alternative to Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
This didn’t age well. Evan McMullin’s (a former CIA operative) chief campaign strategist was @Joel_Searby for campaign against Trump.
— Noah Fencebutt (@Noah_Fencebutt) June 22, 2024
“You shall be known for better, not worse” -really? pic.twitter.com/myUokILA7f
McMullin’s candidacy received substantial support from the anti-Trump RINO group The Lincoln Project.
Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, has described Joel Searby as a close friend and a man with “guts, and heart.”
