TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A man suspected of battery and stalking in Florida has sued Tallahassee Community College and one of its professors over her comments that were published in a news article.
Vincent Mickelsen, a resident of California, filed a lawsuit Feb. 15 against Kalar Walton-Nealy and TCC in Leon County Circuit Court
The lawsuit alleges that Nealy, a professor of deviant behavior at TCC and former prison deputy, made defamatory statements about Mickelsen in an article published by fsunewscom. According to the complaint, Nealy labeled Mickelsen as a stalker and pedophile without having any personal knowledge or interaction with him.
The article quoted Walton-Nealy, who had never met Mickelsen, as saying:
"Mickelsen is a stalker and falls in the category of a pedophile, considering his age and the group of females that he prefers to pursue. Mickelsen suffers from a characteristic disorder, and the only way to treat it would be for him to receive mental health treatment, or be sentenced to jail."
Mickelsen further argues that these allegations were made while he was facing a battery charge in 2021, which he vehemently denied and was eventually found not guilty by a jury on August 17, 2022.
The plaintiff asserts that Nealy's comments were made within the scope of her employment at TCC and therefore holds both Nealy and TCC responsible for the defamation.
Mickelsen's lawyer is Pausha Taghdiri of NeJame Law in Orlando.