State attorney upgrades two charges against former New College official to felonies

This story has been updated with new information.

Fred Piccolo Jr., the former communications director at New College of Florida and longtime political operative, now faces three additional felony charges of indecent exposure — this time in Sarasota County — after State Attorney Ed Brodsky upgraded two of the charges from misdemeanors and filed a new felony charge.

The upgraded felony counts stem from two incidents in September 2024 at the University Town Center Mall, where Piccolo allegedly exposed himself to female store employees on multiple occasions. Initially charged as misdemeanors, the offenses were reclassified due to their repeat nature. Under Florida law, a second or subsequent exposure offense can be treated as a felony.

The upgraded charges were filed on Tuesday, court records show, and an arrest warrant was issued for Piccolo’s arrest on the new charges. Piccolo was arrested by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday. The arrest warrant also identifies a third Sarasota County felony indecent exposure charge that allegedly occurred in March.

 As of Friday morning, Piccolo had posted the $225,000 bond for the three felony charges of indecent exposure and was in the process of being released, according to a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.

The charges are separate from two felony charges Piccolo already faces in Manatee County, where he was arrested in April after allegedly exposing himself to a woman in Lakewood Ranch while naked from the waist down and a second incident near New College. Both incidents occurred in March 2025 and led to his firing from New College.

Piccolo has previously pleaded not guilty to all charges. His attorney has said that Piccolo suffers from Parkinson’s disease and takes medications known to cause compulsive behavior and hypersexuality as side effects.

The felony charges in Sarasota and Manatee counties are pending court proceedings.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office initially submitted non-arrest affidavits for the 2024 incidents, meaning Piccolo was not booked into jail. His identity remained unknown to the public until his arrest in Manatee County months later.

Piccolo also faces civil proceedings after his wife filed for divorce on May 5, 2025.

Read more: Delayed ID, missed arrest, downgraded charge: How Piccolo avoided jail for months

Piccolo had been hired by New College in December 2024 as its top communications official — three months after the spate of exposure incidents at the mall. 

The school conducted a background check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, but it failed to flag the earlier indecent exposure complaints. That’s because Piccolo had not been arrested at the time, and Florida’s database includes only “fingerprint-based arrests,” according to the agency.

Read more: New College’s background check missed 3 exposure charges before hiring Piccolo 

Before joining New College, Piccolo was a well-known figure in Florida political and communications circles. He served as spokesperson for the Florida Speaker of the House when New College President Richard Corcoran held the role from 2016 to 2018, and remained in that position under Republican state Rep. Jose Oliva. In July 2020, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hired Piccolo to run his communications operation, and in 2021, Piccolo started a new position working for the Florida Department of Education’s Division of Colleges. 

This story was jointly produced by Suncoast Searchlight and The Florida Trident. Suncoast Searchlight is a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org. The Florida Trident is a local investigative news outlet focusing on government accountability and transparency across Florida. Learn more at floridatrident.org.