MIRAMAR BEACH — After Jeffrey Mitchell was convicted last month of one count of promoting the sexual performance of a child, he received the designation of sexual offender that will follow him for the rest of his life.
Authorities notified his neighbors on Walton Way, and a flyer with his information was posted online.
Mitchell has responded by putting a sign on his front lawn and delivering a letter to each home on his street, explaining the nature of his crime, which involved child pornography files found on his computer.
“Sex offender till the day I die,” the sign reads, followed by the words, “Apt. for rent.”
Mitchell, who is 62, was arrested Jan 27, 2011. He originally was charged with 32 counts of possessing child pornography.
Those charges were dropped and he was charged with promoting the sexual performance of a child, to which Mitchell pleaded no contest.
He came to the attention of law enforcement officers almost two years ago after he used his computer to visit a child pornography website being monitored by authorities.
Officials seized his computer’s hard drive and found video clips of adults engaging in sex acts with children, according to news accounts.
He was sentenced Nov. 5 to probation for three years and labeled a sexual offender.
Mitchell, who broke down several times while talking to the Northwest Florida Daily News, said he is “stressed out” and under a doctor’s care.
Although putting up the sign may bring more unwanted attention, he has no immediate family to be harmed by it.
“No matter how you put it, nobody cares about sex offenders,” he said. “They could all be shot and buried. And I might have been one of those people at one time.
“But there has to be dialogue about these things,” he added. “If a murderer or a thief moved in next to me I would like to be aware of that, but unfortunately, the only people they do that to is sex offenders.”
As for the irony of advertising an apartment for rent on the same sign, Mitchell said that prospective renters would need to know his status, anyway.
He said he wrote the letter to reassure neighbors that he was not charged with having physical contact with a child.
“I just wanted my neighbors to feel comfortable that there was no danger involved from me,” he said.
At least one of his neighbors, who asked not to be identified, agreed.
“Who knows what you’re clicking on on the Internet,” he said. “Even if he’s guilty, he’s not hurt anyone.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Wendy Victora at 850-315-4478 or wvictora@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @WendyVnwfdn