Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joseph Causton Adle, 33, has been sentenced to 60 days in jail, followed by two years of probation, after a jury found him guilty of stalking and trespassing; Adle was originally arrested in November 2022 after a woman said he had been following her for about five months while wearing a gas mask.

The victim told a Gainesville Police Department officer that Adle often waited outside her building at The Ridge (3658 SW 24th Ave.), waiting for her to walk her dog, and that he had gotten very close to her on multiple occasions. She said he had tried to talk to her on multiple occasions, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying through the gas mask. The victim said that Adle also watched her at a dog park and that she had repeatedly told Adle to stop following her.

Adle had reportedly been trespassed from The Ridge but walked around the complex, anyway. The management at The Ridge told the officer that there had been numerous complaints from residents about harassing behavior from Adle.

A gas mask was found on Adle’s bedside table when he was arrested.

On April 17, 2025, a jury found him guilty of both stalking and trespassing after an order to leave, and Judge Bo Bayer sentenced him to 60 days in jail, with credit for 40 days served, on the stalking charge. The jail sentence will be followed by two consecutive probation sentences of one year each, one for each count. He must undergo an evaluation and comply with all treatment requirements for mental health and psychosexual disorders; he may not possess alcohol or illegal drugs; he must not return to The Ridge, Aero on 24th, or On20 Apartments; and he must use prescribed medications as prescribed.