Point Clare: Bank fraud analyst Isaac Steven Mason charged with allegedly possessing, transmitting child abuse material

A fraud analyst for a major bank charged with allegedly possessing and transmitting child abuse material has applied for a bail variation so he can access a laptop and internet at work.

Isaac Steven Mason leaving Gosford Local Court where he is facing charges of possessing and distributing child abuse material. Picture: NewsLocal

A fraud analyst for a major bank charged with allegedly sending and receiving child abuse material has faced court where he successfully had his bail relaxed so he can go back to work.

Isaac Steven Mason, of Point Clare, represented himself when he appeared at Gosford Local Court on Friday for the first time after being charged with five alleged offences relating to child abuse material.

The 43-year-old was arrested and charged on August 16 with two counts of possessing child abuse material, disseminating it, accessing it and using a carriage service to distribute that sort of material online.

Charge sheets allege Mr Mason was in possession of child abuse material between December 10 and 12, 2021, at Point Clare.

The charges further allege he used the online media sharing platform Kik to access and transmit that sort of material to other users.

Mr Mason told the court he worked as a fraud analyst for a major bank in an open plan office (File image)

Mr Mason was granted strict conditional bail by police, which included that he not have access to a smart phone or any device capable of accessing the internet.

Representing himself in court Mr Mason applied to have his bail changed so he could have a mobile phone with the data “switched off” so he could make and receive calls and text messages.

Isaac Steven Mason leaving Gosford Local Court where he is facing charges of possessing and distributing child abuse material. Picture: NewsLocal

He also sought to be allowed to access a laptop and the internet so he could return to work and continue “my livelihood” as a fraud analyst for a major bank.

Magistrate Jennifer Price questioned whether he worked from home and if his company’s IT systems had any oversight into what he would be using his laptop to access so as to remove “any temptation”.

Mr Mason told the court he worked in an open plan office and there were strict company protocols governing access to social media and other sites, which would notify security “within a couple of minutes” of a breach.

The police prosecutor said the Crown had no issue with the bail variation in those circumstances and it was granted.

Mr Mason returns to court on October 20.