Mason Wallace, Marine recruiter accused of grooming, raping LI HS student, was former sexual assault advocate
Mason Wallace, Marine recruiter accused of grooming, raping LI HS student, was former sexual assault advocate
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April 28, 2023 6:31am
New York Post
A married US Marine Corps recruiter who counseled sexual assault victims is charged with grooming and raping a 16-year-old Long Island girl — admitting to her, “I’m a dirty old man and you love it,” according to the victim.
Staff Sgt. Mason H. Wallace, 28, was charged with third-degree rape after allegedly manipulating the teen’s interest in the military to spark the depraved relationship.
“I would look back at my messages with him and he said some weird things. At the time, I didn’t notice it was like grooming, but it is grooming,” the victim exclusively told The Post.
Wallace, who served as a sexual assault advocate for the Marines before becoming a recruiter out of Patchogue, met the victim during his first recruiting visit to Longwood High School in October, the teen revealed.
“He continued to speak to her about enlisting all this time as if the Marine Corps were his pimp and he their prostitute,” the victim’s mother revealed to The Post.
Wallace was not working as a victim advocate while on recruiting duty but used his status to lure in the alleged victim.
Her family’s ties to the military and fascination with video games drew her to Wallace when he arrived in his Marine Corps uniform, the victim disclosed.
She says the two built a rapport over her possibly enlisting in the Corps.
The two exchanged contact information through Discord the following month “in hopes of talking about the Marines and possibly playing [Call of Duty] together,” according to the victim.
“He knew what he was doing. He was fully aware. He’s not stupid. He’s a recruiter,” the victim claimed.
The two began sending flirtatious texts in December once the victim told Wallace she had a crush on him.
“Instead of being a decent human being and reporting this to the school guidance counselor or her parents, he told her he was ‘flattered’ and continued to flirt,” the victim’s mother said.
Wallace allegedly used a home visit the next month to play video games at the teen’s house while her mother wasn’t home — or aware the recruiter was visiting.
After playing some games, Wallace “talked about the military” before asking her to kiss him, according to the victim.
“I just kind of moved away from him because we’re on my bed. But he kept asking,” she recalled. “So I gave him a little peck on the lips, and he was like, ‘Oh, see, it wasn’t that hard’ in the weirdest tone ever.”
The Marine continued his sexual advances toward her, which led to unprotected statutory rape, according to the teen.
Concerned about pregnancy, the victim claims she messaged Wallace after he left, saying she didn’t know what to do with a “mini Mason,” to which he allegedly replied, “I can tell you what I would do. Go to prison.”
“At some point, he was like, ‘Oh, do you want to be like my girlfriend?’ I’m like, ‘I guess, whatever that entails.’ And he’s like, ‘OK.’ So he kept calling me his girlfriend,” the victim alleges.
In the second meetup with Wallace, the teen says, they went for a walk in the woods near her home and talked more about the Marines.
The victim told Wallace she was unsure if the Corps was a good fit for her, to which he allegedly replied, “I think you have a lot more Marine in you than others,” followed by a perverted laugh, the teen claims
During the walk, the victim alleged, Wallace groped and kissed her and said, “I’m a dirty old man and you love it,” but was also cautious at times, telling her he couldn’t hold her “hand or kiss” her in public given his status as a recruiter.
On Feb. 7, Wallace allegedly came to her home again unsupervised. The two again had sex, this time using protection, and Wallace allegedly told the teen he would set up a recruiting appointment for her and her mother.
“I remember he put his clothes on. He looked over at me on my bed, and then he was like, ‘I’m going to fill an appointment card for you today.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, OK.’ I told him not to, but he was like, ‘Well, I’m going to,’” according to the victim.
That same day, a concerned friend from another school district informed her high school about the victim and Wallace’s relationship, prompting it to contact Longwood.
The school contacted the victim’s mother, but according to her, did not reveal the seedy nature of the relationship, forcing the victim to detail the disturbing affair.
he victim’s mother quickly contacted the Suffolk County Police Department and Wallace was arrested on Feb. 16.
A condom containing “fluid” and the teen’s phone were taken into evidence by the SCPD on Feb. 7, The Post confirmed.
Throughout the alleged relationship, the pair exchanged many explicit messages and photos over various communication apps, according to the victim.
“I didn’t want to believe Wallace didn’t actually love me and care for me but the more I read the messages from him, the more blatantly obvious his manipulative behavior was,” the victim said.
The Longwood School District — despite allegedly being aware of the recruiter’s misconduct since early February — informed parents that Wallace had been banned from school grounds and arrested in a letter sent out by the superintendent on March 27, the victim’s mother shared with The Post.
In March, a school official allegedly advised the victim to take a week off after she was subjected to victim-blaming rumors following Wallace’s arrest, according to the victim’s mother.
The school then allegedly tried to make the teen join a late afternoon school program to complete her education requirements — which her mother refused, believing it was an attempt to hide her daughter.
When reached for comment, the Longwood School District referred The Post to the letter it sent to parents on March 27.
“The Marine Corps takes allegations of misconduct seriously; they are thoroughly investigated and handled at the appropriate judicial or administrative forum,” the branch told The Post.
Message from Executive Director Laura A. Ahearn, ESQ, LMSW: Please visit our website at www.crimevictimscenter.org for news, information and resources in your community.
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