JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A former Pre-K teacher from Jacksonville will spend the next decade in prison. A judge sentenced 38-year-old Tony Leroy Bartley Jr. to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to entice a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. Bartley will also be under supervised release for 10 years and must register as a sex offender.

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Court documents say in July 2025, Bartley and an undercover FBI agent posing as a 13-year-old exchanged private messages on a social media app. The agent told Bartley that the “child” was 13-years-old. Bartlet suggested the two engage in sexual activity, provided graphic descriptions of the acts he wanted to do, and sent an explicit photo of himself. One of the texts included Bartley, under the username “Keven”, saying to the undercover agent, "I want you bad.”

According to court documents, Bartley was arrested by FBI agents in August 2025. During an interview, Bartley admitted he had recently communicated with a girl who was “underage” and discussed having sex. Bartley said, "I should have stopped at 13 [years-old], and that’s on me,” and later added, “I’m going away for a long time.”

Bartley previously worked at Amazing Explorers Academy in Ponte Vedra. He pleaded guilty in February.

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