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WALKER, Mich. -- A 50-year-old man, on the run for nearly two years, is wanted as a suspected child predator with charges pending out of Kent County.
It's a case that's landed on the desk of the U.S. Marshals, who've traveled the nation trying to get him into custody.
Now, there's a chance he could be heading back to our area, making Stanley Mason one of West Michigan's Most Wanted.
“it`s a heinous crime, and obviously, I have children, people relate with it and no one wants to see a child victimized,” Deputy Tom Perosky of the U.S. Marshals said.
Mason is accused of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13.
Investigators say he is lurking the streets, avoiding the law and the consequences for his actions.
“He was aware of the charges and that’s when he did flee, it was right around the time the warrant came out, around January 2013,” Perosky said.
Mason is wanted for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, child sexually abusive activity, which is contributing to a 12-year-old engaging in sexually abusive activity for the purpose of producing sexually abusive material along with using a computer to commit a crime.
The alleged incident happened in Walker between Feb. 1 and Aug. 26, 2012.
A warrant was issued for his arrest in January 2013, and Mason has been on the run ever since.
That’s when Walker police reached out the U.S. Marshals Western District for help in capturing the wanted fugitive.
The team is made up of detectives from the Michigan State Police, Grand Rapids Police Department, Michigan Department of Corrections and five Deputy Marshals.
“We treat every case pretty much that there’s an element of danger,” Perosky said.
Perosky says if someone does it once, there’s a likelihood they’re going to do it again.
“We want to make sure we get that person picked up as soon as possible, so that there aren`t more victims,” he said.
Which is motivation for this team working to track Mason down nationwide.
They say they know he was in Mississippi at one point and have also tracked him to family in Georgia.
The most recent spotting of Mason was in Arizona, but law enforcement believes he may be heading back to West Michigan.
“A lot of times people come back home, they come to what they know and when the people are on the run for so long,” Perosky said. “It’s tiring, it’s very exhausting, so they want to come back somewhere where they feel safe, which is often home.”
Mason is considered dangerous, with a prior aggravated assault on his record.
Mason also has a nationwide warrant for failure to pay child support holding a nationwide extradition.
Perosky says Mason is living completely off the grid, without any help from family or friends. Something that gets harder to do as time goes on, which is why the U.S. Marshals want you to be aware of what he looks like.
Call 911 if you see Stanley Mason or the U.S. Marshals at 1-877-926-8332 if you know where he is.
