Life Without Parole For Man Found Guilty Of Sexually Abusing Young Girl

PANAMA CITY, FL – A man found guilty of 4 sex offenses involving a young girl that took place last year was sentenced to Life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday, State Attorney, Larry Basford, announced.

James Edward Mixon, 43, of Youngstown, was found guilty Sept. 26 of 2 counts of Sexual Battery and 2 counts of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation by a jury that deliberated for 90 minutes. Circuit Court Judge Dedee Costello gave Mixon Life for each of the Sexual Battery charges, and 15 years on each of the Lewd and Lascivious Molestation charges, with all four running concurrent.

Prosecutor Morgan Morrell, who was assisted by Prosecutor Brea Dearing, thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and Inv. Dakota Merrit in particular, saying the sentence will make Bay County a safer place to live.

“This is somebody who is a sexual deviant and he stole the innocence from 2 young girls,” Morrell said. “And if he was given the chance to be out on the streets, he would do this again.

“With this sentence from Judge Costello, he will not be given the opportunity to hurt another little girl.”

Morrell also praised the victim in this case and another young girl who is the victim in a second case. That victim was allowed to testify at this trial about what happened to her.

“Both of these young girls suffered a lot of trauma because of this defendant, and with each of them knowing they were not alone, I think it boosted their confidence to be able to get up there and testify and be able to stand up for themselves,” Morrell said. “It was very difficult for them to testify, but without their courage it would have made this a more difficult case.”

The victim in this case was adopted by an out-of-state family member.

In all, three people have now been convicted and sentenced to prison in this case. Jonathan Allen Mixon, 39, of Youngstown, pled to Lewd or Lascivious Molestation and several other charges and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. He testified against James Mixon. Amber Gunder, 39, pled to several charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The victim said the defendant sexually abused her twice in incidents involving the co-defendants.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center for their work and collaboration in investigating and putting together a case that put three abusers in prison.