Staff Writer

That's what one Upson County man who is a registered sex offender is doing because of alleged neighbor harassment.

Nicolas Mayo has lived in the neighborhood located on Jeff Davis Road since last October. That's when he says the trouble began.

Mayo told 13WMAZ that his neighbor, Judy Cotton, won't stop bothering him. Mayo was convicted of statutory rape at age 23, when he dated a 15-year-old girl. He is now a registered sex offender. Cotton made his presence known to the neighborhood.

"I admit that I was breaking the law by dating her and doing drugs," he told 13WMAZ. "I lived with her and her mother for 14 months. Her mother knew about it, and she was fine with it all, until it came down to the drug charge. I wouldn't take her drug charge; she had me locked up."

Mayo said all he wants to do is put that behind him. Cotton said the neighborhood has a right to know. Now Mayo has filed a suit with Upson County Magistrate Court against Cotton.

"I have four sex offenders living in one block of where I and my grandchildren live," Cotton, a former Upson County Commissioner, said. "I'm terrified to death of what they may do to our children.

"I have a right to know that they are sex offenders, just like everyone else in my neighborhood. We are a close-knit community that keeps a watch on things."

Cotton said this matter is about the children in the community.

"It's about protecting the children; it's not about how I feel personally," Cotton said. "I have never talked to him or her. I didn't even know her name until I saw the notice from Magistrate."

Mayo and his live-in girlfriend, Jean Cobb, said Cotton's actions are "ridiculous."

"It's just got unbearable," he told 13WMAZ, "it got ridiculous, and I just, I felt like I had to do something."

The couple is now seeking $15,000 plus attorney fees for "pain and suffering."

Cotton admits that she told her neighbors and has called the authorities on Mayo, but not as many times as he claimed.

"I've called 911 twice," she said. "I called for loud music and animal cruelty. He left a baby pit bull dog out in hot sun with no water. There have been times I go outside and the Sheriff's Department is there, but I didn't call them. He's not the perfect neighbor he's trying to portray himself to be.

"I'm not a busy body. I just want to make sure my neighbors know there are sex offenders in our area. They know about Mayo just like the other three."

Cobb said Mayo is doing nothing wrong.

"I live with it every day," she told 13WMAZ. "If I can live with it