A Palm Bay man awaiting trial on felony child abuse charges persuaded a Brevard County judge last year to lift a ban on contact with minors after a court filing told the judge he was a licensed contractor managing a construction project on a school campus.
State records show John Eric Vernon, 39, holds no contractor license and never has. The school named in the filing, told The Space Coast Rocket that Vernon has never been under contract for any of its campuses. And Vernon himself, asked directly on Monday whether he is a licensed contractor, answered in writing: “I am not a licensed contractor and closed my company.”
The arrest
Palm Bay police arrested Vernon on June 18, 2025, after a child called 911 from a Palm Bay home and told a dispatcher she was hiding after being choked, according to court records.
In an arrest affidavit, Officer Matthew Abad wrote that three children ran from the house when officers arrived and hid behind them. All three said Vernon had physically attacked them. The officer reported visible blood in one child’s nostril, bloody tissues inside the home, and redness and scratches on another child’s neck and arm.
According to the affidavit, Vernon refused to come out and tried several times to close the door on officers before he was pulled outside and detained. He declined to speak with police after being read his Miranda rights.
In a May 2026 notice of intent to present child victim hearsay, prosecutors summarized statements the children gave to officers and to a forensic interviewer at the Children’s Advocacy Center. According to the filing, the children told investigators Vernon had been drinking, took and smashed their phones, choked one child around the ladder of a bunk bed, pushed two of them into a bathtub hard enough to break the shower rod, and pushed a child into a door, bloodying her nose.
The State Attorney’s Office charged Vernon on Sept. 11, 2025, with two counts of felony child abuse and one count of resisting an officer without violence. He has not been convicted, and the case remains pending.
The motion
At his first appearance, a judge ordered Vernon to have no contact with the alleged victims and no contact with any person under 18. A judge later modified the order to allow contact with the alleged victims under terms set in a separate court case.
On Sept. 4, 2025, Vernon’s attorney, Kurt A. Russell of Melbourne, filed a motion asking the court to remove the restriction on contact with minors.
The motion stated that Vernon “is a licensed contractor and holds ongoing contracts with the Brevard County School Board.” It said he was “currently responsible for managing a construction project” at a local school, work it said required his regular presence on school property to supervise his team.
The motion also said the School Board had told Vernon he could not enter school property because of the no-contact condition, leaving him “unable to fulfill his professional obligations under his current contract.”
On Sept. 24, 2025, Circuit Judge Laura Moody granted the motion in part. Her order struck the condition barring contact with anyone under 18 and replaced it with a ban on physical contact with minors “except as necessary at business locations or otherwise specified in prior orders.”
No license
A search of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s licensee database shows no active or prior contractor license for Vernon. His certified residential contractor record is listed as “Eligible for Exam,” meaning he has been approved to sit for the licensing exam but has not been licensed. An application for a construction financial officer registration is listed as “in progress.” A real estate sales associate license he once held became null and void in 2022.
DBPR records also show an unlicensed activity case with an incident date of July 1, 2025, two months before the motion was filed. The department issued an unlicensed activity citation in October 2025 and a second citation in November 2025, and the case has since been sent to a collections agency. A separate complaint with an incident date of Dec. 1, 2025, was closed as a duplicate.
Under Florida law, it is illegal to perform contracting work or hold yourself out as a contractor without a state license.
Vernon advertised his business, J Vernon Enterprises LLC, online as a general contractor offering remodeling, building additions and structural repair. On April 6, 2026, he filed articles of dissolution for the company with the Florida Division of Corporations. The filing, which Vernon signed while affirming that its contents were true, gives the reason as “not doing contracting work anymore and soon moving.” He still shows the business as his cover photo on his Facebook page.
“I haven’t done anything wrong”
In a Facebook Messenger exchange with The Space Coast Rocket on Monday, Vernon admitted to the unlicensed activity and stated he had to pay fine and never did it again.
Asked whether the statement in the motion was correct and he was a licensed contractor, Vernon replied: “The lawyer is responding to all that. I am not a licensed contractor and closed my company. My lawyer will respond.”
He later wrote that he “had to close my company over the false allegations against me.”
What prosecutors and the court can do
Under Florida’s rules of criminal procedure, a judge may modify a defendant’s release conditions at any time for good cause, either on the court’s own initiative or at the request of prosecutors. If the court finds that release was modified based on false information, it can restore earlier conditions, impose new ones, increase bond or, in serious cases, revoke pretrial release and order the defendant held until trial.
Criminal charges are less straightforward. Perjury under Florida law requires a false statement made under oath. The Sept. 4, 2025, motion was not sworn; it was signed by Vernon’s attorney, and court minutes show no one testified at the hearing where it was granted. Another state law makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly make a false written statement intended to mislead a public servant in the performance of official duties. A judge can also hold a person in contempt for conduct that deceives or obstructs the court, after notice and a hearing.
Separately, Florida Bar rules prohibit lawyers from knowingly making false statements of fact to a court and require a lawyer who learns that material information presented to a court was false to take reasonable steps to correct it.
Liens against property owners
Brevard County official records show Vernon filed seven sworn claims of lien against six property owners between 2019 and 2025, each signed before a notary or deputy clerk.
Florida’s construction lien law provides that a person who is required to hold a contractor license but does not has no right to a construction lien. A separate state law makes contracts entered into by unlicensed contractors unenforceable by the contractor.
The liens include:
- An October 2019 lien filed in the name of J Vernon Enterprises against a limited liability company, claiming $10,000 unpaid for remodeling, doors, trim, flooring and “management.”
- A September 2021 lien claiming $6,000 in “management fees” from a homeowner in the Lansing Ridge subdivision.
- An August 2022 lien against a Melbourne homeowner claiming $19,272.89 unpaid on a $40,272.89 remodel.
- Two May 2023 liens against the owners of a Palm Bay property, which Vernon listed as his own address on both filings. One claimed $14,600 for a fence, paint, and a well pump and tank. The other claimed $17,600 described as “owed paid rent per move.” Both liens were released in July 2023 in consideration of final payments of $14,600 and $12,600, according to the release documents.
- A February 2025 lien against a Melbourne homeowner claiming $1,500 for “cancel of accepted estimate” and “lost wages,” with all items listed as furnished on a single day. The homeowner recorded a notice of contest of lien about two weeks later, giving Vernon 60 days to file suit to enforce it. A search of Brevard County court records found no such lawsuit.
- A December 2025 lien claiming $3,000 for a bathroom installation that included a shower stall, vanity, mirror and drywall. The lien says the owner refused to pay because the owner did not like the materials. It was filed about two and a half months after the motion told the court Vernon was a licensed contractor.
The IRS has also recorded three federal tax liens against Vernon in Brevard County: one in March 2022 for $100,490.79 covering tax years between 2006 and 2019, one in February 2026 for $57,586.59 covering 2022 through 2024, and one in August 2026 for $7,235.52 covering 2025.
In August 2026, the court in his criminal case found Vernon indigent for purposes of court costs.
Attorney, prosecutors
The Space Coast Rocket emailed Russell on Sept. 24 asking what the licensing statement in the motion was based on, what project at the school it referred to, and whether he intends to notify the court before Vernon’s next hearing. Russell’s office replied that he was out of the office at a seminar and asked for time until the end of business Monday to respond. No response had been received as of publication. (Update: Mr. Russell’s office responded after publication with “Mr. Russell and Mr. Vernon have no comment to make on this.”
The Space Coast Rocket also asked the State Attorney’s Office whether prosecutors verified the claims in the motion before the September 2025 hearing and whether the office plans to ask the court to revisit Vernon’s release conditions. Matt Reed, the office’s communications director, said he would need to check with the prosecutors now handling the case and noted that the prosecutor assigned at the time of the September 2025 hearing has since left for private practice. The office had not answered the questions as of publication.
What’s next
Vernon’s trial has been continued several times since early 2026. The case is set for a calendar call Oct. 7 before Judge Moody.
The Space Coast Rocket previously reported on a parent who attended an event at Sea Park Elementary School while his court release conditions set no restrictions on contact with children.
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