Staff report

ARCHER, Fla. – Yesterday, Joel Bruce Searby, aged 44, who spearheaded the Newberry charter school project until his apprehension, was given a 10-year state prison term, followed by an additional ten years on probation as a sex offender, after admitting guilt to 12 felonies concerning sexual offenses involving minors.

On June 19, 2024, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to Snapchat communications from Searby intended for a 15-year-old boy, inviting him to his guest house to assist with a matter. Allegedly, Searby sent pictures of himself without a shirt, alongside a shower photo and messages recounting his sexual encounters with an older man during his high school years. Click here for additional details on Searby’s arrest.

On June 10, Searby submitted an open plea of nolo contendere to several charges including traveling to meet a minor, using a computer to solicit a minor, lewd and lascivious behavior, illegal use of a two-way communication device, and eight counts of possessing child pornography. As part of the plea deal, four counts of child pornography possession were dismissed. The plea agreement indicates that the maximum potential sentence for these offenses could be 80 years in state prison.

According to Searby’s score sheet, the minimum permissible sentence was 90.6 months.

On June 12, Judge William Davis sentenced Searby to two sentences of 10 years in prison and two sentences of five years in prison on the first four charges, all running concurrently, followed by five years of sex offender probation. Judge Davis added an additional five years of probation, served after the first five years, for the child pornography charges. Searby will also be designated a sexual offender.