John R. Mason of Aliquippa in Southwestern Pennsylvania is a corporal with the notorious Pennsylvania State Police. Corporal John R. Mason has been charged with a number of serious sexual offenses. He is accused of using a State Police Enterprise Network (or SPEN) computer to look at pornographic pictures of little kids, apparently twelve times. We are each sexually aroused by different things. Who are we to judge the appetites of Corporal Mason? Admittedly, we have very little sympathy for cops, but, frankly, it seems to us that looking at internet pictures is harmless enough even if the pictures are of children. It may be bizarre, but what injury is done to society or to any victim? Still, it's a serious offense in Pennsylvania and the cop is in serious hot water. One wonders how anybody knew that the photos were smut if they didn't look at them, too. Isn't that another "crime?" State cops are, as a group more prone to committing criminal offenses than any other group in the state. That seems strange since they protect one another so diligently. Only about one in eighty police offenses are prosecuted. The rest are concealed.

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