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Former Newberry education advocate sentenced to 10 years in prison for child sex crimes
By Kristin Moorehead
June 16, 2025 at 5:24 AM EDT
Joel Searby, the former leading advocate for converting Newberry public schools to charter schools, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for various child sex crimes.
He pleaded no contest and was convicted of eight counts of possession of child pornography, a second-degree felony. He was also convicted of second-degree felony charges for traveling to meet a minor, lewd and lascivious behavior, using a computer to solicit a minor and a third-degree felony charge of using a two-way communication device to commit a crime.
He will also be placed on a sex offender registry and serve an additional five years of probation.
Searby was first arrested in June of last year. According to the arrest report, Searby used the social media platform Snapchat using a fake name to send inappropriate pictures and text messages to a 15-year-old boy. He later tried to coordinate a meetup with him for sex.
The vote to convert Newberry’s schools to charter schools failed at the middle and high school levels, while the vote to convert the elementary school received exactly 50% of the teacher vote, sparking confusion and continuing debate.
The Alachua County school district is in the process of appealing the ruling by the Florida Review Commission in February, which approved Newberry’s charter school application. The school board approved the contracts for the new Newberry Community School at a meeting on June 9.
He pleaded no contest and was convicted of eight counts of possession of child pornography, a second-degree felony. He was also convicted of second-degree felony charges for traveling to meet a minor, lewd and lascivious behavior, using a computer to solicit a minor and a third-degree felony charge of using a two-way communication device to commit a crime.
He will also be placed on a sex offender registry and serve an additional five years of probation.
Searby was first arrested in June of last year. According to the arrest report, Searby used the social media platform Snapchat using a fake name to send inappropriate pictures and text messages to a 15-year-old boy. He later tried to coordinate a meetup with him for sex.
The vote to convert Newberry’s schools to charter schools failed at the middle and high school levels, while the vote to convert the elementary school received exactly 50% of the teacher vote, sparking confusion and continuing debate.
The Alachua County school district is in the process of appealing the ruling by the Florida Review Commission in February, which approved Newberry’s charter school application. The school board approved the contracts for the new Newberry Community School at a meeting on June 9.