Joel Searby Motions to Set Bond
On August 15, alleged attempted statutory sexual abuser Joel Searby, a former board member of Education First for Newberry, made a motion to set a bond.
Searby’s attorney, Logan Doll, argued in favor of the motion, as “Searby has no prior criminal history…. Has multiple letters of support…. Has lived in Alachua County for 19 years…. Has family living in Alachua County…. Would be able to live with family away from the alleged victim…. [Formerly] ran Sycamore Lane Consulting…. [and] would comply with any orders [the] court feels are appropriate.”
The motion also states that at Searby’s June 25 hearing, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) detectives “indicated that they were continuing to investigate for additional victims. They mentioned two other potential victims.”
Doll argued that the fact that these indications have not yet led to charges is another reason why Searby should be granted bond.
Searby was arrested on June 20 and charged with two counts of obscene communication, one count of lewd/lascivious behavior, and one count of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
The arrest report shows Searby added the victim on Snapchat the day before his arrest. There have been numerous cases in Alachua County where older men have used Snapchat in an attempt to view or commit illegal sexual acts against teenagers.
Snapchat is an online messaging app that is prominently used in these cases because photos and messages are set to automatically disappear unless manually saved by the sender or receiver of the message.
Snapchat’s terms and conditions say people 13 and older can use the app, but there isn’t any verification of a person’s age.
Searby used being an “older guy” as a tactic to groom the victim, but if he wanted to, he could’ve easily lied about his age and said he was much younger than he was.
Additionally, nothing would stop a potential victim from identifying themselves as much older than they actually are.
Snapchat also has a feature called “Snap Map” that allows users with their locations turned on to see where their “added friends” are approximately located. It can be turned off manually.
Between text messages and photo messages Searby sent over three dozen sexually coercive messages to the victim on Snapchat.
Searby wanted the teenage boy to tell his parents he was going to Searby’s house to do yard work.
Searby reportedly identified himself as “Parker Smith” and his Snapchat username was “p_smith245151”
Searby was a prominent political figure before his arrest. He was in the Republican Party before leaving and joining the Centrist Project and later the Forward Party.
It would appear Searby deleted a lot of his social media accounts, but records of his political affiliations are easily found.
In a Vice Author page that was likely approved by Searby himself, it says, “In 2016, Joel left the Republican Party and his long-time consulting practice to research and recruit for an independent candidacy for president. He then ran Evan McMullin’s historic independent bid for president. In 2017, he joined forces with the Centrist Project, serving as Senior Strategist, where he oversees recruitment and resourcing of independent candidates.”
Some audio recorded interviews with Searby have remained available.
In one, the interviewer, Jon Ward, updated his Substack page containing the interview with an acknowledgement of Searby’s arrest.
Searby was featured on the first episode of Ward’s “Builders” interview series, published on October 6, 2023.
Ward introduced Searby, saying, “Joel was the Executive Director of the Forward Party, which is building state parties around the country to give people a way to build a movement from the ground up. He recently left that role, and we’ll talk about what he’s up to now.”
Searby said that while he was with the Forward party, he traveled to 18 places in 18 weeks, establishing state parties for Forward.
Searby has worked closely with Forward Party Founding Co-Chair Andrew Yang.
Searby still spoke positively about the Forward Party after he left.
When Searby was arrested, he was working on the Yes Newberry initiative to turn Newberry public schools into charter schools.
Searby told Ward he was thinking decades into his political future. He said he’d have a book coming out this year.
Searby said that John 15 is a Bible verse that gave him motivation throughout his career. He said he focuses on bringing “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control” into his career.
Searby talked about his vintage home goods store, Sycamore Lane, and further affirmed his prominence in the Newberry community, saying his yard would host markets with “over 50 vendors, food trucks, slide music, beer & wine, and a couple thousand people in our front yard twice a year. When you’re that close to your community, every kind of person comes out—every perspective, every race, every age, uh, comes out, and they walk around our yard, and we’re trying to create an environment where people are just there to enjoy themselves…. When I look across my yard and see hundreds of people walking around from all different walks of life [I remember], they’re all hoping something will emerge too, and I want to help provide that.”
Searby previously had an arraignment scheduled for August 8 but he wrote a plea of not guilty on June 24 so it was canceled.
Searby’s next case management hearing is scheduled for September 9.
In a statement released shortly after Searby's arrest Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe said he was "shocked, dissappointed, and angry, [at] Joel Searby." He went on to say, "There is a lot to take in right now, and my only ask is that we all remember and try to be sensitive to the fact that there are two families going through a terrible ordeal right now, and no matter how angry we are at Joel, we should try not to add to the trauma those families are experiencing."
Jon Ward
