Police link Venice football coach John Peacock to felony phone crime

A Sarasota County Sheriff's Office investigation in September found probable cause that Venice football head coach John Peacock is linked to a felony regarding recorded phone conversations that were posted on the internet, according to an affidavit obtained by USA TODAY.

Peacock has been the coach at Venice for 20 seasons and is the winningest coach in program history, leading the Indians to three state titles and a 203-48 overall record.

The State Attorney's Office told USA TODAY that they were unable to confirm nor deny if a case has been opened against Peacock.

According to the State Attorney's Office's website, when a law enforcement agency files a complaint, an assistant state attorney will review the information and may conduct additional

interviews. That attorney will determine if there's enough evidence to pursue criminal charges or not.

Peacock's lawyer, Patrick Reilly, confirmed on Oct. 13 that to his knowledge, no charges have been filed and there is not a warrant out for Peacock's arrest.

What investigators believe John Peacock did

According to the probable cause affidavit, a person contacted the Sarasota County Sherriff's Office (SCSO) in January to report that someone had recorded a private conversation without their consent, and then posted it on social media platforms. After a series of subpoenas and an interview with Peacock, investigators found "probable cause exists" that the number used to make those calls was linked to Peacock.

Per the affidavit, obtained via a public record's request, the unnamed complainant communicated with an individual who identified himself as Andre Moss from Dec. 22, 2025, through Jan. 6, 2026, through a cell phone number (Cell Phone 1).

On Jan. 13, the affidavit says the complainant found an audio recording of the private conversations with Moss posted to an account on X, @TrueFruitville, which no longer exists. After reviewing the account, the complainant found three posts containing recordings of the conversations with Moss.

The SCSO's investigation needed four subpoenas to discover the source of Cell Phone 1, which was used to contact the person. The investigation found that Cell Phone 1 was associated with TextMe, a cross-platform app that allows users to send free texts and make calls over WiFi or mobile data. A subpoena to TextMe found the subscriber left their name blank, but that an email address was used to activate the account.

A second subpoena was issued to Yahoo, which revealed no other information was linked to the Yahoo account besides a recovery phone number (Cell Phone 2). After finding that Cell Phone 2 was associated with Verizon, the SCSO subpoenaed Verizon and found the number was registered to the Venice Football Club, the non-profit booster arm of Venice's high school football program.

The SCSO issued a fourth subpoena, this time to the Venice Touchdown Club in an effort to find out to whom Cell Phone 2 was assigned.

Venice coach John Peacock interviewed with investigators

After the subpoena was issued and on Sept. 8, Reilly informed the lead detective of the investigation that Cell Phone 2 belonged to Venice head football coach John Peacock. On Sept. 16, the SCSO conducted an interview with Peacock and his attorney.

The affidavit says that after being read his Miranda Rights, Peacock confirmed to investigators that his cell phone number was Cell Phone 2, and admitted to creating a TextMe number but could not recall what the number was. Peacock denied granting anyone else access to Cell Phone 1, the affidavit says.

The affidavit says that Peacock claimed to only have two email accounts in the interview with investigators. When the lead detective provided evidence that the email used to activate Cell Phone 1 had Peacock's number listed as the recovery cell phone, his attorney "promptly ended the interview," according to the affidavit.

The day after the interview, the affidavit says that Reilly called the lead investigator to say that his client would not be providing any further comment.

Investigator concludes probable cause against Peacock exists

Peacock declined to comment on the affidavit and directed USA TODAY to his lawyer for comment. When reached by USA TODAY, Reilly declined to provide further comment on the investigation, but did confirm with the SCSO that Peacock has not been charged with a crime and there is no warrant out for his arrest.

"I haven't seen that affidavit, I don't know where that affidavit came from," Reilly said. "I've put in a public records request and haven't received anything yet ... I can't answer any questions on a document that I have not seen."

After confirming Peacock's name, the State Attorney's Office told USA TODAY on Oct. 13 that they could not confirm nor deny that they had a case open at that time, nor could they comment on the status of a case nor any individuals associated with the case.

The probable cause affidavit concludes with this finding from the lead investigator: "Based on the aforementioned, I believe probable cause exists to show the TextMe phone number used to call the victim was directly linked to the defendant Thomas John Peacock. Those conversations were recorded without the victim's knowledge or consent and later disseminated via the social networking platform "X" which is a violation of F.S.S 934.03 (1a) Interception and Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications."

F.S.S. 934.03 reads that anyone who violates subsection 1 of the statutes is guilty of a third-degree felony.

Peacock was fired as Venice football coach in April 2018 after liking an inflammatory tweet that said Braden River head football coach Curt Bradley used a spray tan to achieve his skin color. He was rehired by the school two months later after undergoing mandatory social media and sensitivity training.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Police link Venice football coach John Peacock to felony phone crime