An Archer man was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for capital sexual battery on a child under 12 years of age.
According to an Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office press release, Judge James Colaw sentenced Michael Kent Mitton, 65, to life in the Florida Department of Corrections after presiding over the two-day trial.
The charges stem from Sept. 12, 2023, when the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) responded to UF Shands Pediatric Hospital to assist the Florida Department of Children and Family Services regarding an abuse allegation. Â
ACSO detectives identified Mitton as the suspect who alleged to have committed the abuse when Mitton served as the custodial adult and abused the child while in his care. The victim’s mother took the child to seek medical services based on the child’s complaints.
After additional forensic investigations, Mitton was arrested and charged with sexual battery with injury on a person under 12 years of age by a person older than 18 years of age.