East Bay sex offender charged with child porn possession, again

OAKLAND — Nearly four years after he was arrested and convicted of child porn-related offenses, an Antioch man is back in hot water — this time in federal court — on similar charges.

Sonny Mitchell, 45, was indicted in federal court last week with distributing images of a minor engaged in sexual activity, and of possessing child porn. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

The allegations against Mitchell include that he claimed to be a child molester and even invited a man to molest his own children, that he shared child porn on Facebook and on Grindr, an online dating app, and that he shared videos on Facebook of himself masturbating. The masturbation videos made it easy for police to identify Mitchell because they showed a misspelled tattoo on his torso, which reads, “Thug Pasion” (sic), according to a sworn statement by a federal agent.

Mitchell is no stranger to these kinds of allegations. He was arrested in 2015 after Antioch police spotted the stolen car he was driving and tried to pull him over near Antioch High School on West 18th Street. He tried to escape, but got caught in a traffic jam and was arrested, police said. A search of his phone reportedly turned up child porn.

After that arrest, authorities say he tried to pass the buck by falsely claiming to be a informant for a Pittsburg detective who Mitchell alleged had asked him to share child porn with others as part of a sting operation to catch pedophiles. Authorities didn’t believe him. He was convicted of child porn possession, sentenced to prison, and required to be registered as a sex offender.

Then, in December 2018, Mitchell allegedly contacted a Grindr user claiming he molested his own children and offering to let the man molest his kids too. Instead, the man went to police, who ultimately served a search warrant on Mitchell’s social media accounts and found more evidence he possessed and shared child porn.

According to a public database, Mitchell lived on  the 2000 block of Sugar Pine Street at the time of his arrest, within two miles of five schools.