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Police Catch Sex Offender

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By GEORGE WILKENS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

Video: Suspect Arrested

TAMPA - A registered sexual offender who authorities say raped a 15-year-old girl after using the Internet to lure her from home was apprehended Saturday at a Virginia truck stop.

William Joe Mitchell, 46, was arrested without incident at the Flying J Truck Stop on Interstate 81 in Winchester, Va., at 11:30 a.m., the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. The agency has been involved in the case since the teen's parents discovered her missing Monday from their home in Bartow.

William Joe Mitchell

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd would not reveal what drew Virginia State Police to the truck stop but said Mitchell was found standing next to the black 2000 Chevrolet Lumina described in an Amber Alert issued at 2 a.m. Tuesday.

'He was in his vehicle that we had broadcast all week, still with the original tag on it,' Judd said Saturday in a telephone interview.

Polk sheriff's detectives, working closely with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Marshals Service and other agencies, learned that Mitchell, a Jacksonville resident, had relatives in Opp, Ala., and Harrisburg, Pa. Saturday, they received information that he might be in Winchester, near the Virginia and West Virginia line.

Authorities were awaiting a search warrant before entering the seized car, but personal items belonging to the girl were visible inside, 'which just helps make a stronger case,' Judd said.

The victim endured a 30-hour road trip with Mitchell before he released her Tuesday at a Wal-Mart in DeFuniak Springs in the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.

Polk authorities have four felony charges against Mitchell, but the most serious, including kidnapping and rape, were filed Wednesday in Covington County, Ala., where authorities said Mitchell drove the victim before returning to the Panhandle.

The Polk warrant issued Wednesday charges Mitchell with solicitation to commit a lewd act, enticing a child via the Internet, interference with custody, and traveling to meet a minor - all felonies.

The girl was identified earlier in the week as authorities tried to find her, but Judd said his office would no longer do so because she is a victim of a sex crime. The Tampa Tribune does not generally identify victims of sexual offenses.

She Sneaked Out To Join Him

Posing as 'Billy Martin' and claiming to be 23, Mitchell developed a relationship with the teen through online chat rooms and drove to Bartow from Jacksonville to pick her up Monday, investigators said. She sneaked out a bedroom window to join him.

'She was infatuated, in love, with a man who turned out to be 46,' Judd said.

Mitchell's capture nearly 1,000 miles from Bartow provided a good ending to a hectic week in which investigators 'worked diligently and around the clock,' Judd said. 'He's violent and dangerous and needs to be in prison for the rest of his life.'

The girl's father joined the sheriff at Saturday's news conference. 'My daughter is fine; she's going to be OK,' the father said. 'When we got the news of the arrest today, it was absolutely the best joy in the world.'

Echoing comments by the sheriff, the father urged parents to keep a watchful eye on their children. He encouraged children to notify an adult when they think a peer plans to meet a potential predator. 'If they're going to do something wrong, tell on them,' he said.

Lengthy Criminal History

Mitchell has a long criminal history, mostly for crimes in St. Johns County, just south of Jacksonville.

Florida Department of Corrections records show that Mitchell was sentenced to prison four times. His longest sentence, 1982-92, was for armed robbery and related charges.

Mitchell's most recent sentence was four years for a 2002 conviction in St. Johns County for lewd and lascivious battery on a 13-year-old girl. She was the daughter of a woman Mitchell dated, Judd said. Mitchell was released Dec. 10.

An arrest warrant for violation of probation in that case was issued Oct. 2 in Jacksonville. It alleged Mitchell was found in possession of drug paraphernalia, moved without notifying authorities, broke curfew and is $375 in arrears on his monthly supervision payments.

If Mitchell waives extradition, he could be in Polk County within a week, Judd said. 'Alabama wants him, too,' he said.

A clearer picture of which jurisdiction will prosecute first will emerge, sheriff's office spokeswoman Donna Wood said.

Mitchell was in the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester, with bail set at a total $700,000 on the Alabama charges.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4847 or gwilkens@tampatrib.com.

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