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A 36-year-old Polk County Public Schools employee was arrested Wednesday and charged with lewd conduct against a student by an authority figure, a second-degree felony.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that Donald Mitchell of Lakeland had an inappropriate relationship with a student, who is now 19, starting in October 2023. He oversaw the in-school suspension program at Kathleen Senior High School, according to an arrest affidavit.
Mitchell left his job at KHS in November 2023 for a position as a community outreach facilitator for the Polk County School Board, the affidavit said. The student, who was a senior, said she had oral sex with Mitchell in a Lakeland park in March 2024 and multiple times afterwards in the park and at a barbershop in Tampa, where he also worked.
Mitchell is listed in PCPS records as a “provisional substitute paraeducator at KHS.” He does not have a teaching certificate listed with the state of Florida.
The allegations came to light when the young woman posted about the relationship on social media, officials said. Mitchell was suspended from his job, according to the press release; he later resigned, Superintendent Fred Heid said.
“These allegations describe abhorrent behavior that is unacceptable for anyone who works with students,” Heid said in the press release. “People who abuse their trust and authority deserve to be punished for their actions.”
A warrant was obtained to search Mitchell’s phone after he refused to give them his phone, according to the affidavit. Investigators found numerous text messages between the two, including those he had deleted. One on Valentine’s Day read: “I’m here to grow and groom you into what (I) know you’re capable of being!”
In addition, the victim shared with investigators a video she said Mitchell took of a sex act between them in August 2024. The relationship ended last month, officials said.
The arrest affidavit states that Mitchell told detectives he erased a lot of text messages between him and the alleged victim because he did not want his wife to find them.
Mitchell is being held on $30,000 bond and was forbidden by a judge from contacting the young woman, News Channel 8 reported.
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