THIS is the man who offered money for sex to a boy at a bus stop in York city centre.

And below is the picture that caught David Mason when it was published in The Press.

When Mason's girlfriend said the picture looked just like him, he took a clipping of the article to Fulford Road Police Station and claimed he was not the man in the CCTV still image.

But when officers compared the image with the man in front them, they took a different view - and arrested Mason.

Today, Detective Constable Steve Wilson, of York CID, thanked The Press for publishing the picture.

He said: "The CCTV image led to him coming forward the next day, and we would like to thank The Press for publishing it for us.

"This case illustrates the importance of working with the media to release pictures of offenders so that we can ask for the public's help in identifying them.

"It was strange for an offender to actually come forward himself, as we would normally expect phone calls from neighbours who recognise the individual.

"But I think in Mason's case, his girlfriend had clearly identified him and he must have been worried that other people would do so too.

"He came forward and said: 'This picture looks like me, but it's not me,' and I think he was trying to wriggle out of the fact, by claiming he had an alibi.

"But it did look like him, and the CCTV image was good quality, so we arrested him straight away."

Det Con Wilson said officers had investigated Mason further, but not uncovered any similar offending.

He said Mason was only charged with a minor public order offence because there had been no evidence of anything more serious.

When Mason appeared before York magistrates, Robert Galley, prosecuting, told them that the 53-year-old jobless man asked the 16-year-old boy: "Will you go to bed with me?"

When the boy said no, Mason pulled out a black leather wallet and said he would pay him £100.

But the boy refused, pushed him away, and Mason was caught on a bus CCTV.

Mason's solicitor, Andrew Craven, said his own actions had led to his conviction. "No one had a clue who he was when The Press ran the story," he said.

Mason, of Barkstone Avenue, Chapelfields, York, pleaded guilty to disorderly behaviour, and was conditionally discharged for 12 months and ordered to pay £60 costs.

Mr Craven said he had drunk so much that he did not know what he had done that evening and had behaved out of character.

Mr Galley said the boy was waiting at a bus stop in St Leonard's Place at 10pm on March 13. Mason approached him and made his proposition. After he was repulsed, Mason crossed the road and caught a bus from another stop nearby. The boy went home, told his mother what had happened and the police were called.

Mr Craven said Mason's girlfriend showed him the picture. He believed it was not him because he thought he had an alibi for the relevant time, and went to the police station to rule himself out of the inquiry.

Because Mason was charged and convicted of a minor public order offence, he is not classed as a sex offender and does not go on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Updated: 16:07 Monday, May 08, 2006