Former NSW cop guilty of teen sex crimes

19 Sep 2012, 6:54 pm   -   Source: AAP

A jury has found a former NSW policeman and church youth worker guilty of sexually assaulting teenage girls.

A former NSW police officer and church youth worker has been found guilty of having sex with underage teenage girls, disseminating child porn and perverting the course of justice.

After more than six days of deliberation, the jury in the trial of Wayne Paul Mason returned their verdicts at Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday.

They found that the 42-year-old - who faced 52 charges - was guilty of 44 offences but not guilty of seven.

They were unable to reach a verdict on one charge and were discharged.

The guilty verdicts included numerous counts of disseminating child pornography, aggravated indecent assault of a person under the age of 16, having sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 16 while in a role of authority and perverting the course of justice.

He was also convicted of having sexual intercourse with a teenage girl without consent.

Mason and his family cried after the verdicts were handed down and he was taken into custody.

During the trial, which started in July, the court heard that in one instance of indecent assault, Mason - who was serving as a police officer at the time - rolled on top of a 15-year-old girl and kissed her at a sleepover inside the church.

The act sparked years of abuse, which saw him penetrate her without her consent, saying "now we are one".

About a year later when the same girl went to the Baptist church's minister to tell him of Mason's sexual advances towards another teenager, the minister said he didn't believe her and she would "get into trouble" if he was forced to report the claim to the Department of Community Services, the court heard.

When she gave evidence during the trial, she said that during their "relationship" Mason gave her a ring, a wallet and a notebook called the "book of shadows" in which they penned letters to each other.

She said Mason had often signed his letters with the name "Seraphim" - referring to a member of the highest order of angels.

Allegations against Mason did not surface until August 2010, when one of his alleged victims - then aged about 23 - was searching her name on the internet and came across "sexually explicit" photoshopped photographs of herself and other teenage girls.

In a subsequent police interview, Mason admitted to doctoring photographs of underage girls, saying it was "an artist thing".

Mason is due to appear before the courts for sentencing submissions on December 13.

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