Pineville, ARKANSAS

ACQUITTED OF FEDERAL CHARGES.
Guilty plea on two felony counts of second-degree assault in state court in 2005.
He is a level 3 sex offender.


FEDERAL INDICTMENT: Apr 4, 2007 - Steven Mitchell, 32, a former Melbourne teacher, was indicted by a Federal grand jury on 12 counts involving sexual misconduct with students. He is accused of taking students across state lines on field trips to engage in sexual acts.

Mitchell has already been charged in Izard County Circuit Court for soliciting male students for sex and indecent exposure. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the federal charges on April 26

[TT - Information is from a news release not yet online.]

BACKGROUND
GUILTY PLEA AND SENTENCING: Apr 19 - Mitchell pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault a year ago. In the original charges, many of Mitchell’s male students, ranging from 13 to 18 years of age, told authorities he encouraged them to expose their genitals and commit various sexual acts while on school sponsored FFA trips from the spring of 2002 to the spring of 2004.

Mitchell pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sexual assault, and prosecutors dropped the other four felony charges and eight misdemeanor charges.

The judge sentenced Mitchell to five years of probation and ordered Mitchell to register as a sex offender in Arkansas and attend counseling for pedophiles.

NEW INDICTMENT The new 12-count indictment stems from the out-of- state FFA trips in which Mitchell allegedly assaulted his students.

INTO CUSTODY Apr 26 - Mitchell was taken into custody after his scheduled hearing before a U.S. Magistrate. Mitchell faces a May 29 trial date.

NOT GUILTY PLEA Apr 28 - The Baxter Bulletin: Mitchell pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. They also report that Mitchell registration as a sex offender and is classified as Level 3, which is considered high risk to the public, according to Arkansas' sex offender classification.

Update May 4 - A judge agreed with the previous judge that Mitchell was a danger to the community, citing his guilty plea on two previous charges, but ruled prosecutors did not prove home arrest was not a reasonable incarceration.

TRIAL DELAYED: Oct 2 - Mitchell is appealing a ruling that denied his pretrial motion to dismiss the charges. The trial is postponed until that appeal runs its course.

APPEAL Oct 11 - Part of the appeal is that Mitchell also requested that information about his prior sexual assault conviction involving former students and his Level 3 sex offender rating not be allowed in the trial.

BACKGROUND
In 2004, Mitchell was charged with two counts of first degree sexual assault, two counts of second degree sexual assault, solicitation to commit sexual indecency with a child, five counts of indecent exposure and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for encouraging male students to commit sex acts and expose their genitalia by participating in “size contests” while on school sponsored Future Farmers of America trips.

In August 2005, Mitchell’s attorneys, Gray Dellinger and Jack Lassiter and 16th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Don McSpadden reached a plea agreement in which Mitchell pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sexual assault, was ordered to register as a sex offender, attend counseling for pedophiles and stay away from his victims. He was sentenced August 23rd to 5 years' probation, registration as a sex offender and counseling as a pedophile.

FEDERAL INDICTMENTS Dec 13 - Mitchell was scheduled to appear in court on Oct 1 on 12 federal indictments. On Dec 5, a federal grand jury handed down five indictments: charging Mitchell with transporting minors across the state line for sexual intent, witness tampering and engaging in criminal sexual activity.

The superseding indictment moots the appeal process and takes the place of the April 2007 indictment. The new indictment includes:

The indictment said Mitchell knowingly transported persons under the age of 18 years across state lines, with the intent to engage individuals in sexual activity. Count one states this occurred on a trip to San Antonio, Texas. Where Mitchell was a chaperone for the FFA group. Mitchell told a student if he disclosed the criminal activity, Mitchell would make sure that everyone knew the student had exposed his genitalia to Mitchell and others.

Other counts charge Mitchell with several criminal sexual activities while on trips to Kentucky, Georgia and Texas. Sexual activity was initiated under Mitchell’s endorsement that it was “the biggest form of trust.”

All the federal indictments stem from the out-of-state Future Farmers of America (FFA) trips where Mitchell allegedly assaulted his students.

After the plea agreement and sentencing of a mere five years' probation, one of the victim's mother spoke for many.

One victim’s mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “He (Mitchell) didn’t get what he deserved, but he had to admit to what he did in front of his wife, parents, and everybody else. I’m glad his life will never be the same, just like the kids he hurt.”

Mitchell is married with two children. A judge has given Mitchell permission to spend the holidays at home with his family.

Feb 8, 2008 - A federal jury acquitted Mitchell on the sole remaining charge.

The judge dismissed three charges alleging that Mitchell had forced several boys to expose themselves and that he exposed himself to them during trips to out-of-state Future Farmers of America meets. The judge determined that under the laws on the books at the time, the allegations did not constitute a crime.

The judge also ruled there was insufficient evidence on the charge of witness tampering.

Thirteen boys testified against Mitchell at the federal trial.

Mitchell pleaded guilty in August 2005 in Izard County Circuit Court to two felony counts of second-degree assault in connection with the same group of boys. He was sentenced to five years’ probation, fined $2,500 and was ordered to register as a Level 3 sex offender.