Six years ago, Phoenix police officer Michael Mason resigned after he was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a young girl when he was a late teen.
He pleaded guilty to felony child abuse in 2020.
So, how, and why, did Phoenix re-hire Mason this year as an aviation dispatcher – a position that requires a criminal background check and meeting certain TSA conditions?
In a series of statements, city officials claimed the Aviation Department didn’t know about the circumstances tied to his resignation, and Mason submitted conflicting information to a background check vendor.
Mason and his defense attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
“The department was aware of his previous employment as a police officer but not the reasons tied to his resignation,” according to an initial statement from the city.
Officials later added, “Mr. Mason submitted personal information to the background vendor that differed from his work authorization documentation. Once the background submission was identified to be a mismatch, Mr. Mason’s background was run again with the correct personal information.”
City insiders contacted ABC15, wondering how Mason was able to get hired despite his felony conviction.
Mason was hired as an aviation dispatcher on April 14, 2025, a city official said.
He resigned on May 15.
His resignation came three days after ABC15 asked Phoenix officials to verify if Mason was again employed by the city.
His 2019 arrest was widely reported by Phoenix news outlets, and it landed him on the “Brady” list.
The criminal case against Mason began almost a decade after the alleged crime occurred.
A woman told her therapist that her babysitter had sexually abused her, court records show. The therapist reported it to the Department of Child Safety, which reported it to the Phoenix Police Department.
During the investigation, Mason admitted that he had abused the girl when he was in his late teens and she was approximately in kindergarten, records show.
Mason received a sentence of supervised probation.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
