A veteran anti-Trump political consultant has been arrested on multiple charges of crimes against children, according to reports.
Joel Searby, who led ex-CIA officer Evan McMullin’s independent presidential bid in 2016, has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies relating to child sex crimes.
43-year-old Searby 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.
Searby is currently being held at the Alachua County Jail without bond.
According to the arrest report, Searby used the messaging platform Snapchat to groom an underage boy.
He reportedly sent inappropriate pictures and text messages to a 15-year-old child.
Searby then attempted to lure the boy to a meeting in order to rape him.
Police said Searby used a fake name and photo to trick the child into meeting up with him.
According to investigators, Searby was caught after he started contacting a real child.
However, the boy’s family reported the inappropriate message to authorities.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office took over the boy’s account and continued communication with Searby.
A judge then granted a search warrant for the RINO consultant’s home.
Searby allegedly told the boy that he had a “secret crush” on an older man in his 40s when he was around the child’s age.
He wrote that they first kissed and then “did more stuff in secret whenever we could.
“He kind of taught me stuff,” Searby told the child.
According to the report, Searby then asked the victim if he “Would ever do something like that?”
The victim then replied with, “Maybe I would have to think abt it.”
The consultant then went into graphic detail about his sexual encounters with his “secret crush.”
He then asked the underage boy if he wanted to “do that stuff.”
Searby also pressured the “boy,” who was actually a sheriff’s deputy at this point, that he would need to keep things secret.
“I’m super secret,” Searby wrote, according to the report.
“I have to know you will keep it between us.
“It’s a huge deal,” he warned.
Searby was ultimately arrested without incident on Friday.
Searby helped launch McMullin’s independent presidential campaign in 2016.
The campaign sought to challenge President Donald Trump’s bid.
McMullin was portrayed as a “former Republican” who could provide a “moderate” alternative to Trump in the 2016 election.
His candidacy was heavily backed by the anti-Trump “Republican” group The Lincoln Project.
The Lincoln Project’s RINO co-founder Rick Wilson has described Joel Searby as a close friend and a man with “heart.”
READ MORE – Video Shows Moment Good Samaritans Catch Illegal Alien Who Raped Child in NYC Park