IAN MASON SENTENCED IN CUMBRIA FOR ONLINE GROOMING AND PLANNED CHILD SEX MEET IN GATESHEAD

In June 2021, a west Cumbrian man named Ian Kerr Mason, 49, traveled from his home in Cumbria to the North East with the intention of meeting a 14-year-old girl for sexual activity. However, upon arriving at a supermarket car park in Gateshead, he was met not by the girl but by a volunteer paedophile hunter, as detailed in Carlisle Crown Court.

Mason, who had previously lived in Cleator Moor and at the time resided at an address in Carlisle, admitted to five charges related to attempting to lure young girls for sexual purposes. Prosecutor Martine Snowden explained that the offences in 2019 were uncovered through the efforts of two online paedophile hunting groups—one based in Newcastle and the other in Scotland.

The first two offences involved Mason attempting to communicate sexually with a child and planning to meet her after grooming. These were discovered when he was caught in Gateshead by the Online Child Safety Team and Scottish Wolf Pack group.

Ms Snowden revealed that Mason had sent the girl pornographic videos and asked about her body. When she expressed that she felt more like a 10-year-old than a 14-year-old, Mason responded, “I bet it’s beautiful.” Mason's trip to Gateshead was aimed at meeting this girl.

He was found with £100 cash, which Ms Snowden indicated suggested he was prepared to offer money in exchange for sexual acts.

In conversations with a second decoy also claiming to be 14, Mason discussed school and, when she said she was a virgin, offered her money for explicit photos. Mason, recently living at Maryport Court in Carlisle, believed he was communicating with an underage girl for sexual purposes.

During sentencing, Judge Nicholas Barker addressed Mason’s sincere belief that he was talking to 14-year-old girls and his travel from west Cumbria with the intent to engage in sex with a child. The judge noted Mason was prepared for such an act, as he had in his car sex toys and other sexual paraphernalia when he was caught.

The judge emphasized that Mason intended to perform sexual activity, and he highlighted how the decoys, posing as minors, were part of an operation designed to catch predators like Mason. The judge pointed out that Mason’s reaction to being told one girl looked younger than 14 only further demonstrated his disturbing intent.

Mason was sentenced to 40 months in prison. Additionally, the court imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and mandated that he register as a sex offender for life.