Man Accused Of Stalking Royal Oak Woman For Decades: Police

ROYAL OAK, MI — A 42-year-old man from Anderson, Indiana is facing felony charges for stalking a Royal Oak woman, police said. Since December of 2018, the victim has been in contact with the Royal Oak Police Department, beginning with a report of an unknown man calling her cell phone and making threats to find and sexually assault her.

The phone call came from a blocked number, police said, but the woman recognized the voice of the man as the same unknown person who stalked her more than a decade ago when she lived in Indiana, authorities said.

Police said that in 2001, while living in Indiana, the victim began receiving similar phone calls from unknown man. At the time, several neighbors also told her they had seen an unknown man sitting in multiple different vehicles outside her apartment complex on several occasions. Initial investigations by local police were unsuccessful in identifying the suspect.

The phone calls continued when the victim relocated to Michigan in 2004, police said. The victim made attempts to conceal her identity and the phone calls stopped until December of 2018, Royal Oak police said.

During the call in December, the man allegedly told the victim he had spent several years attempting to locate her.

Royal Oak detectives were able to track a suspect named Steven Craig Mason to a home in Anderson, Indiana, they said.

Detectives contacted Anderson Police Department and coordinated the investigation which led to obtaining a search warrant for the man's Indiana home. Police said Mason, who lived with his mother, admitted to not only stalking the Royal Oak victim, but also thousands of other women.

Department of Homeland Security investigators took possession of the Mason’s computer and are working to identify other potential victims, authorities said.

Mason's mother reportedly told Royal Oak authorities that she was “terrified of her son” and fully cooperated with investigators, police said.

“Royal Oak detectives did an outstanding job with this case,” Chief Corrigan O’Donahue said about the arrest. “This victim and potentially many others have been living in a state of constant fear. We are glad, after all these years, to give this young woman some peace.”

Mason was arraigned May 7 in the 44th District Court before Judge Jamie Wittenberg after being extradited from Indiana. Mason was charged with one count of aggravated stalking, a felony that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Mason’s criminal history includes a conviction out of Indiana for operating while intoxicated, authorities said.

His bond was set at $100,000 cash with no 10%.