Fred Piccolo, a former spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis and most recently the marketing director at New College of Florida, was fired after being arrested for the fourth time in less than a year on charges of indecent exposure.
In 2020, Piccolo stepped down as DeSantis' spokesperson after backlash over a tweet downplaying COVID-19 fatalities. Two years later, he was accused of sending inappropriate text messages while working as campaign manager for Florida Rep. Jackie Toledo—allegations he denied, and which were later dropped.
More recently, Piccolo was arrested multiple times in August 2024 for allegedly exposing himself to employees at Banana Republic and Dillard's in Sarasota's University Town Center Mall, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
On Tuesday, Piccolo was arrested again by Manatee County sheriff's deputies on charges of "exposure of sexual organs." A New College spokesperson confirmed he was terminated from his role as Director of Marketing and Media the following day, and his profile was removed from the school's website.
According to arrest records from previous incidents, Piccolo allegedly engaged in explicit behavior in public, including returning to the same store multiple times to repeat the offenses. He remains in jail as of Wednesday morning and has not commented publicly on the latest charges.
Piccolo now faces four open cases related to indecent exposure, which under Florida law is considered a third-degree felony.
Originally published on Latin Times
