Editor’s Note: The victims’ families declined to be interviewed for this story and requested anonymity. Through communication with the Smith family and Delaware Police Chief Adam Moore, the families indicated they were aware of the reporting and comfortable with the story being published.
DELAWARE — Maya and Kyle Smith never expected to avoid one side of their neighborhood street when walking with their three children.
The couple live just a few doors down from Phillip Charles Mason, 63, on Tipperary Loop in the Glenross community.
Mason was convicted Aug. 6 in Delaware Municipal Court of two fourth-degree misdemeanor counts of public indecency.
He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and 1,095 days of community control, fined $200 and ordered to undergo a mental health/sex offender evaluation within 90 days of the sentencing.
As part of his sentence, Mason was also ordered to have no contact with the victims or their families. He also cannot have minors in his home other than his own children or contact minors outside his home without adult supervision.
Those weren’t Mason’s first public indecency charges.
Mason was already classified as a Tier I sex offender following a prior case involving a 9-year-old girl at the Jerome Community Pool in Union County.
According to the Union County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the girl reported that Mason exposed himself while playing with her and other children at the pool. Mason maintained that the exposure was accidental.
Mason pleaded guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor count of public indecency in August 2025 and was sentenced that October to 180 days in jail, with 90 days suspended. He was also required to register as a Tier I sex offender for 15 years.
Mason challenged the registration requirement, but Ohio’s Third District Court of Appeals upheld his classification in July 2026.
Although the Smiths’ children were not victims in the Delaware case, Maya Smith said she knows one of the victims’ families well.
She said the situation has left several families, including hers, uneasy about the neighborhood they call home.
How daily life has changed
Maya Smith said she first learned Mason was a registered sex offender when another neighbor showed her his listing on the sex offender registry.
“From what I understand is people in the neighborhood then showed his picture to their kids to just make them aware like, ‘Hey, you can’t go play at this person’s house,'” Maya Smith said.
Smith said children later told their parents about incidents involving Mason while visiting his home. Mason was subsequently charged in Delaware Municipal Court.
“Our neighborhood is densely populated with children. All the kids play and get along well. Everyone goes over to each other’s houses,” Smith continued.
But since the incidents, Smith said “there’s no comfort level on our street.”
The Smiths educated their children as much as possible, showing their oldest daughter the sex offender registry and telling their two younger sons not to play near Mason’s home or interact with anyone outside it.
Smith said the family has also found itself having conversations with visitors and other parents that she never anticipated needing to have.
“It feels like something we have to disclose to everyone,” Maya Smith said. “Our neighborhood is amazing for trick-or-treating, but we have family over last year and had to explain that you can’t go to that house.
“Anytime that my daughter has a sleepover with someone who doesn’t live in the neighborhood I say [to other parents], ‘Not that I’m expecting contact, but just so you know there is a sex offender on our street.’
“It just feels like it hangs over our heads in this otherwise lovely, beautiful neighborhood.”
Why weren’t neighbors notified?
One question has continued to trouble the Smiths: Why weren’t they notified that a registered sex offender lived nearby?
Delaware Police Chief Adam Moore explained that sex offender registration and community notification are handled by county sheriff’s offices rather than municipal police departments.
Whether neighbors receive direct notification depends largely on an offender’s classification.
Delaware County Sheriff’s Office Victims Advocate Supervisor Valerie Hooper explained that Ohio adopted a three-tier sex offender classification system in 2008 following the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
“New national standards were implemented to divide sex offenders into three categories and ‘tiers’ based solely on the crime committed,” she said.
Under Ohio law, offenders are classified into three tiers based on their qualifying offenses, with different registration and notification requirements.
- Tier 1
- Register once a year (every 12 months)
- Registration lasts for 15 years (can drop to 10 years with clean behavior)
- Neighborhoods and schools do not receive direct community notification
- Tier 2
- Register every 180 days (twice a year)
- Registration lasts for 25 years
- No general public notification, but strict housing rules apply. Public notification only if court ordered at the time of sentencing
- Tier 3
- Register every 90 days (four times a year) for life
- Includes community notification of local neighbors, schools (within 1,000 feet) and authorities
Because Mason is classified as a Tier I offender, his registration does not automatically trigger direct notification to nearby residents.
Moore said his department sometimes receives calls from residents asking why they weren’t notified about a registered sex offender living in their neighborhood.
He said he uses those conversations to encourage parents to discuss personal safety with their children, regardless of whether a registered offender lives nearby.
“I typically utilize those calls to reinforce the message; parents need to talk with their children about safety practices whether they are at home, at a friend’s house, at school, in the neighborhood, or anywhere in public,” Moore said. “What’s appropriate and what’s not regarding interactions with other children and adults.
“The importance of having a relationship with your child such that they feel comfortable coming forward when something isn’t right and talking with you.”
Moore said children should also know which trusted adults they can turn to if they are uncomfortable approaching their parents.
“If ever they feel like they can’t tell a parent, who are the people they can reach out to,” he said. “For example, grandparents, a neighbor, teacher, school counselor, the school resource officer – every child needs a trusted adult.”
Residents can search for registered sex offenders in their area through the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office’s online registry.
A future in Glenross
Even with a better understanding of the notification laws, Maya Smith said she wishes her family had known about Mason sooner.
She recalled how when Mason’s direct neighbor moved away, the family who bought the house didn’t find out Mason was a sex offender until after buying and moving into the house.
The Smiths have even contemplated leaving Glenross.
“I don’t want to move at all, but it’s also why we would want to be close to that,” Maya Smith said. “If moving was easy, I think we would move. We definitely think about it and it’s definitely a consideration because it impacts the way that we and our kids live our lives.”
But she also acknowledged the situation has been difficult for everyone — Mason’s family included.
“This is so hard for everyone involved. We have so much sympathy for his kids and his wife, I understand that this is hard for everyone,” she said.
“It was hard to even make the decision to talk about this because at the end of the day, I don’t want anything negative for anyone. It just feels like someone had to be willing to speak up and say something,” she said.
“I just feel like nothing is changing. He got out of jail, he came home. It’s just hard for everyone.”
