Mason Stewart - Repeat Sex Offender - Restroom Predator

A convicted sex offender was arraigned today for allegedly molesting and taking inappropriate photos of a young boy at a residence and in a Burger King rest room.

Mason Stewart, 38, of 202 Pembroke St., Apartment B, Pembroke, was arrested yesterday morning and charged with felonious sexual assault. Hooksett District Court Judge Robert LaPointe ordered that Stewart be held on $50,000 cash bail.

The boy's mother informed Pembroke police of the allegations immediately after learning of them May 28. She said her son had told an adult neighbor that Stewart had touched the boy's penis inside a Burger King rest room in Concord, and the neighbor told her, court papers said.

The boy's mother told police she was an acquaintance of Stewart's and had seen his photograph on the state's sex offender website, court documents show.

Stewart was convicted in 1990 of sexually assaulting a child younger than 13 in Concord, Mass., according to police.

In a videotaped interview, the boy reiterated to a child victim advocate the allegation about the incident in the restaurant, police said. During the interview, the boy also said that a similar incident had occurred inside Stewart's apartment, also inside the bathroom.

In an interview with Pembroke Detective Dawn Shea, Stewart said the two urinated together but that no molestation occurred.

"I feel it is reasonable to believe that Mason (Stewart) is likely minimizing his actions based on his knowledge of the possible consequences of this type of behavior," Shea wrote in court papers.

Police seized a laptop computer, cameras, flash drives, CDs and cell phones while carrying out a search warrant of Stewart's home last Wednesday, documents said. In a statement, police said more charges could be filed once the items are examined. Stewart allegedly told police he erased photos from his cell phone before police searched his home.

A judge sealed from public view a more detailed affidavit for the search warrant.

Pembroke police said Stewart had been registering as a sex offender with the department four times a year, as required.

In April, Police Chief Scott Lane held a seminar for parents on how to prevent child sex abuse after neighbors had grown concerned about a convicted offender moving to Donna Lane. Pembroke has 22 registered sex offenders living in town.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte