It was all there. His photo, his address, even the offense he'd been convicted of. All the information they would have ever needed in order to know what he was, right there waiting to be loaded onto their monitors with a few clicks of the mouse and spelling out his name "M a s h" into the sex offender database. But, none of them ever thought to look, after all he was such a nice guy.
Standing 6' 5 inches, and weighing in at 335 lbs and the father of two girls, Paul Mash was thought to be just a large friendly church going man. No one was concerned when he befriended a family and their very young son. It wasn't until the 3 year old told what Nash had done that those who knew them realised who had been sharing their church.
His first conviction is for activities similar to what he is charged with now, and perhaps these latest ones could have been prevented if only someone had taken the time to do a quick search in the sex offender database. But that's the real issue with sex offenders, they don't where bright neon signs telling you what they are, and too often they fit in so well with the rest of us- we'd never even give the possibility that they where a criminal a second thought.
For years Nash was able to keep his secret, not through effort of his own, but because those who knew him couldn't imagine him being what he was. All these years of not being caught again, all these years of fooling those who thought they knew him. All these years biding his time until he found his next victim, and yet all this time the South Carolina Sex Offender Registry, was there waiting for someone to type in his name.
Convicted Sex Offender Accused Again
Categories: predators, molesters
Standing 6' 5 inches, and weighing in at 335 lbs and the father of two girls, Paul Mash was thought to be just a large friendly church going man. No one was concerned when he befriended a family and their very young son. It wasn't until the 3 year old told what Nash had done that those who knew them realised who had been sharing their church.
Richard Cox/Suspect's Friend: "Me and Paul have had talks before. And it kind of just takes you back. You think you know somebody and then find out that you don't".
43 year old Paul Mash, a father of two girls accused of forcing a 3 year old to grab his genitals while touching himself at the same time in his Spartanburg County home.
Cox: "He was, to me, he was one of my best friends in church and stuff, and um this kind of takes you back and stuff".
Richard Cox met Mash 4 years ago at church. The same place Mash allegedly met his victim
and the victim's family. But for years, detectives say, Mash had a well-kept secret that no-one in his congregation knew about-- a secret that could have easily been uncovered with the tap of a mouse.
Cox: "They're all kind of taken back and surprised". SOURCE
His first conviction is for activities similar to what he is charged with now, and perhaps these latest ones could have been prevented if only someone had taken the time to do a quick search in the sex offender database. But that's the real issue with sex offenders, they don't where bright neon signs telling you what they are, and too often they fit in so well with the rest of us- we'd never even give the possibility that they where a criminal a second thought.
For years Nash was able to keep his secret, not through effort of his own, but because those who knew him couldn't imagine him being what he was. All these years of not being caught again, all these years of fooling those who thought they knew him. All these years biding his time until he found his next victim, and yet all this time the South Carolina Sex Offender Registry, was there waiting for someone to type in his name.
Convicted Sex Offender Accused Again
Categories: predators, molesters
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