Hillsborough: Man accused of soliciting a child

Hillsborough

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Man accused of soliciting a child

By Times Staff Writer
Published February 18, 2005

BRANDON - A 53-year-old accountant who bragged on the Web about molesting children all over the country, was charged Thursday with three counts of soliciting sex from a child using the Internet, authorities said.

Roy Mason, of 2009 Highview Fall Place, was arrested Thursday on an Indiana warrant at his home by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with help from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, said Mike Duffey, an FDLE computer crimes special agent.

Duffey is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which pursued this case.

The investigation started in June, after the mother of a 13-year-old Indiana girl discovered the conversations her daughter was having with Mason through a chat room, Duffey said. Even when he knew the mother was reading the correspondence, Mason bragged that he was a pedophile who had traveled to other cities to molest children, Duffey said.

Indiana state police officials went online pretending to be the girl, Duffey said. Mason continued to talk about sex and fondled himself in front of a Web camera, thinking the girl was watching on the other end, Duffey said.

Mason wrote that he planned to travel to Indiana to visit the girl, but he never did, Duffey said. Indiana officials traced Mason's account to his home address and asked Florida law enforcement officers to help track him down.

Mason, who works for Graybar Electric Co. in Tampa, is single with no children, Duffey said.

After arresting Mason, officials confiscated his computer. More charges could follow. Authorities also plan to investigate Mason's claims of pedophilia, Duffey said.