A Brandon father is looking for information about the death of his son during what Florida prison officials are describing as an "inmate-on-inmate altercation" at the Wakulla Correctional Institute Annex.
Ryan M. Mason’s death on Monday is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and its Inspector General office, but few details are being released about the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Mason, a convicted sex offender, was in a protective management program at the prison, according to his father, Ray Mason.
Due to the active investigation and the Federal HIPAA Privacy Rule, this is all of the information currently available,” wrote FDC spokeswoman Ashley Cook in a statement. Federal health privacy law extends to deceased inmates, according to FDC’s guidelines.
WCI has been the scene of recent brutal attacks recently. In August an inmate was severely injured in a fight with two other inmates. A month earlier, an inmate stabbed a WCI correctional officer in the back.
Mason said besides a call from the prison chaplain on Monday, he knows little else other than his son is dead.
He’s tried several times to contact the prison’s warden Jacob Sorey without results. On Tuesday, he contacted the office of state Sen. Tom Lee, R- Thonotosassa, searching for answers.
Mason said when he last spoke to his son Saturday, he seemed in good health and high spirits.
“By now, it’s been over 24 hours. They should have had the compassion and consideration to tell me what happened to my son, not just that he’s dead,” Mason said by phone. “I’m just very frustrated and fearful about what’s happened to him.”
Mason, 36, was arrested in January 2013 on charges including soliciting a minor and distribution of child porn in an FDLE sting operation.
According to media reports, Mason was arrested after traveling from Tampa to the Orlando area to meet someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl. When FDLE agents surprised him, he tried to run them over and broke a Taser they used to try to subdue him. Agents described him as a “violent child predator.”
He was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison for traveling to meet a minor, assault, resisting an officer with violence and numerous counts of sending and possessing child pornography.
The protective management program Mason said his son was in separates inmates from the general population for health or safety reasons.
When told his son was killed in an altercation with other inmates, Mason said “I just can’t see that.
“He’s just not a fighter at all. He would run from a fight in a heartbeat. But of course, I don’t know the details.” ..Source..
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