Feb 2010 Pervert in court on sex charges AN AIRDRIE man was snared as part of a nationwide child porn ring, distributing hundreds of pictures to other paedophiles of young children being sexually abused. Stuart Mason 24, of Glenmavis operated the porn ring from his home over a three year period, downloading pictures of both young boys and girls, and then sending them to fellow paedophiles nationwide. Airdrie Sheriff Court heard last Thursday how Mason downloaded 434 sexual images and 60 videos of young children – two of the images being the worst possible under the Oliver Scale, used by courts throughout Scotland to grade computer porn. Prosecutor Lindsay Dalziel told the court that vice-squad cops, with a search warrant, raided his home on November 15, 2006 and seized a variety of computer equipment from his bedroom. It took until July 2008 before Strathclyde Police investigators managed to complete their analysis of the computers and mobile phones taken from Mason’s home. Ms. Dalziel said: “Further investigations and statements taken found a number of chat files and other remote users, and he was very candid with police during interview. There were 50 chats found with other users with indecent images of children distributed.” A second raid on his home in September 2008 was made by police and further lap tops, an 1Pod and pen drive were seized, which revealed more images of children being sexually abused. Ms Dalziel added: “He was again interviewed, made admissions to downloading them and was kept in custody before appearing on petition and being given bail.” Mason, of Appin Way, pleaded guilty of taking and making indecent photographs of children at his home between November 11, 2005 and September 11, 2008. He then admitted distributing and showing indecent photographs from his home to others between June 26, 2006 and November 16, 2006. Mason denied a charge of lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour on various occasions at his home between November 1 2004 and December 15, 2005. It had been alleged he sent e-mails to a 13-year-old boy, viewed him by web cam, made indecent remarks to him and induced him to remove his clothing and expose himself on camera. The crown accepted a plea of not guilty. Sheriff Petra Collins deferred sentence until next month to obtain a full range of background reports, including a report of the risk he poses to young children. Mason was put on the Sex Offenders’ Register and told he would be on the register for a minimum of five years, the exact time to be revealed when he is sentenced. A report has also been ordered from Dr Cindy Shields, a clinical psychologist at Hartwood Hospital in Lanarkshire. The sheriff will view an agreed sample of the pictures of the young children and videos made by Mason in chambers prior to sentencing the accused. He was released on bail, with the additional conditions that he has no contact with any children under the age of 18, and also banning him from using the internet. Mason raced from court without making any comment.