Former state trooper found guilty of sexual abuse of children
WAYNESBURG – It was his job to protect children, but instead, he victimized them. That was the description Greene County Assistant District Attorney Linda Chambers gave of John R. Mason on Thursday after Judge H. Terry Grimes found the former state police trooper guilty of sexual abuse of children and criminal use of communications.
The charges had been filed after investigators discovered that Mason, 41, had been visiting pornographic Web sites that depicted boys under age 18.
During the non-jury trial, Mason, formerly assigned with the Waynesburg barracks, was found guilty of 20 counts of sexual abuse of children and 18 counts of criminal use of a communications facility.
Mason was charged in February 2001 for using his office computer to access pornographic material between February and August 2000.
A second complaint was filed in August 2001 after the State Police Bureau of Professional Responsibility, Internal Affairs Division, obtained a warrant to seize Mason’s home computer. The crimes outlined in that complaint took place in April and May 2001.
Earlier this week, in what Mason’s attorney, Michael S. Sherman of Pittsburgh, called an “11th-hour move,” prosecutors added 20 counts of criminal attempt/sexual abuse of a child. Grimes dismissed those charges after Sherman pointed out that he had not had enough time to prepare a rebuttal. The judge added, however, that the prosecution could file those charges later.
Testifying for the commonwealth Thursday, Cpl. Judith Burroughs, a 10-year state police veteran and member of the State Police Internal Affairs Division, said she studied a copy of the hard drive from Mason’s office computer.
“I looked at the pictures in the temporary Internet files,” said Burroughs, who noted that she has worked on the Mason case since February 2000. “There was pornography of gay males and little boys.”
According to Burroughs, she also reviewed Mason’s Web-based e-mail accounts and found that he had joined “clubs” with names such as “Boys Photo Album” and “pedophile.com.”
Sherman questioned the relevance of listing these sites, since it cannot be proven that they were registered to Mason.
“They were found on the computer used by John Mason,” Chambers said. “I have to prove that the defendant was looking for this type of material.”
When Sherman asked if those clubs had anything to do with the charges on which Mason was being tried, Burroughs testified, “They do relate to this case.”
She said she had printed out 188 pages that showed where the user viewed these accounts and was signed on as a member. She added that she also could provide the dates and times, but this information was not included in the 188 pages.
Burroughs said she also found five pornographic movies with “little boys performing sex acts” in the temporary Internet files.
A compact disc containing 594 images of this type also was entered as evidence, along with several magazines that had been seized by the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service. Some of the photos in those magazines, several of which were printed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, matched some of the images from Mason’s computer, Burroughs testified.
She said that two of the children, “Jesse,” now 6, and “Andrew,” now 14, had been identified as living people.
Sherman objected to all the other images.
“There is no proof that they are actual persons,” he said. “There is no way to determine if they are alive or computer depictions.”
Grimes overruled the objection.
Regarding the office computer, trooper Robert William Erdely of the state police Bureau of Computer Crime Division, described the state police computer network, explaining that all computer transactions must pass through a firewall, or server, located in Harrisburg. He added that although troopers share computers, each person has an e-mail address, user name and password, which must be changed at least every 90 days.
Erdely also testified that the desktop will remain open for just 15 minutes if left unattended.
“That means, if I walk away [without logging off], another person could use the computer?” Sherman asked.
Erdely said that was possible.
In discussing Mason’s home computer, Burroughs testified that she found 54 pictures of “child pornography” on the machine.
But, on cross-examination, Burroughs said the computer originally was from Mason’s home in Aliquippa, Beaver County, but had been taken by Mason’s wife to her divorce lawyer’s office.
Sherman, in his closing remarks, questioned the fact that Mason’s now ex-wife had possession of the home computer when the warrant was served. “What did his ex-wife do to it?” he asked.
Sherman also pointed out that the reading of Mason’s e-mail accounts “tainted the court.”
“The pictures are disgusting. You can’t sugar-coat that … but is it illegal to view the photos?” he added. “It’s not illegal to look at magazines.”
Chambers responded that Mason didn’t “just view” the images.
“He searched for them, joined clubs, visited Web sites and clicked on links,” she said. “He looked at the same pictures several times.”
Admittedly, she said, the person who took the photos is “more culpable, but each and every time someone looks at this child, he is victimized again and again. They will be victims as long as they float on the Internet.
“This is more than disturbing. It is the continuation of a crime that will not stop with Mason,” Chambers added.
After the guilty verdict, Grimes said the county probation office must complete a pre-sentence investigation of Mason’s background within 30 days, at which time he will schedule a sentencing hearing.
Grimes also ordered the exhibits to be sealed and never opened without a court order.