Fred Piccolo Jr., a former communications director at New College, Florida and a longtime political operative, faces two felony charges, this time in Sarasota County, after state attorney Ed Brozki upgraded charges from misdemeanors.
The new felony comes from two incidents at the University Town Center Mall in September 2024, with Piccolo allegedly exposed to female store employees on multiple occasions. Although initially charged as a misdemeanor, the crime was reclassified due to its repetitive nature. Under Florida law, a second or subsequent exposure offence can be treated as a felony.
The upgraded claim was filed Tuesday, court records show, and a warrant has been issued for Piccolo’s arrest in response to the new charges. Piccolo was arrested Wednesday by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. He was still in custody as of Thursday morning.
The charges are separate from two felony charges Piccolo already faces in Manatee County, and he was arrested after he exposed himself to a woman from Lakewood Ranch in April, naked from the waist, arresting a second case near New College. Both incidents occurred in March 2025, leading to shootings from New College.
Piccolo pleaded not guilty to all charges. His lawyer says Piccolo suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is taking medications known to cause obsessive behavior and high sexuality as side effects.
Felony charges in Sarasota and Manatee counties are pending court cases.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office initially filed a non-arrest affidavit for the 2024 incident. That means Piccolo is not booked in prison. His identity is unknown to the public until he was arrested in Manatee County several months later.
Piccolo faces a civil lawsuit after his wife filed for divorce on May 5th.
Piccolo was hired by New College in December 2024 as the best communications official.
The school conducted background checks through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, but was unable to flag previous indecent exposure complaints. This is because Piccolo was not arrested at the time, and the Florida database, according to the agency, only includes “fingerprint-based arrests.”
Before enrolling at New College, Piccolo was a well-known figure in Florida’s political and communication circles. He served as a spokesman for the House Speaker when the new president of the new university, Richard Corcoran, served as Florida State Senator and remained in his position under Republican Rep. Jose Oliva. In July 2020, Gov. Ron DeSantis hired Piccolo to run the telecom business, and in 2021 Piccolo began a new position working in the Florida Department of Education’s university department.
This story was co-produced by Suncoast Searchlight and Florida Trident. Suncoast Searchlight is a community news collaborative newsroom serving Sarasota, Manatee and Desoto counties. For more information, please visit suncoastsearchlight.org. Florida Trident is a local research news outlet focusing on government accountability and transparency across Florida. For more information, please visit floridatrident.org.
