Children victimized in Northern Colorado after convicted sex offender allegedly commits disgusting act of food tampering
A convicted sex offender who allegedly contaminated cupcakes for a child's birthday party with his bodily fluids will remain behind bars through at least Dec. 20. Stephen Masalta is accused of masturbating in a Fort Collins Safeway grocery store, contaminating cupcakes, fruits, donuts and frosting at his former place of employment.
Masalta was first arrested by Fort Collins Police Services in early 2024 after the department spent months trying to find him. Police responded to dozens of reports of a short man exposing himself outside of coffee shops in Fort Collins and Loveland at early morning hours. The man was regularly described as being short, either White or Asian, wearing a mask and dark clothing.
After months of investigations, FCPS identified and arrested Masalta.
According to documents obtained by CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas, police located many concerning pieces of evidence at Masalta's property during a search warrant. That included clothing matching descriptions of the suspect at the coffee shops, several phones and hard drives with explicit content on them and a car that contained contents like binoculars. Police reported that they ran a black light through his vehicle and found the driver seat was covered in bodily fluid.
Police also reportedly found images on Masalta's electronics that they believed to be both clothed and exposed photos of women who police did not believe were aware they were being photographed. Police said Masalta had taken notes about the sexual acts he wanted to do to the women and had even drawn sexual images over some of the photos.
However, potentially of greatest concern to some, police said they located videos of Masalta allegedly contaminating food items at Safeway off of Harmony Road in southern Fort Collins.
Police described videos of a man, who they presented as Masalta, touching pastries and other baked goods at Safeway with his genitals.
Police also said they saw videos of Masalta releasing bodily fluids onto fresh fruit, a bucket of pastry frosting and even onto a custom order of cupcakes. Fort Collins police said they were able to tell based from the video that the cupcakes were clearly decorated for a child's birthday and even still had the customer's order form taped to them.
Those cupcakes were then served at a child's birthday party.
The parent of two of the children attending the party, ages 2 and 5, agreed to share their traumatic story exclusively with Thomas. However, because her children were victims of a sex crime, CBS News Colorado agreed to not share her identity.
"When police first come to your door, what goes through your head?" Thomas asked.
"I thought my husband was hurt," she said.
While she was fortunate that her husband was okay, she would quickly learn her young children had been victimized.
"They asked me if my children, and or my husband and I, had eaten cupcakes that were served there," she said.
"Could you have ever fathomed what they were about to tell you?" Thomas asked.
"No. I don't think anybody could have ever imagined this," she said.
Detectives then told her that they had confirmed the cupcakes her family consumed were the cupcakes seen in the videos allegedly found on Masalta's devices.
Police said Masalta was employed at the Safeway at the time. Officers reportedly went to the bakery department and were able to confirm that the room the videos were recorded in was also in the Harmony Safeway.
"When you found out it wasn't just you and your trust violated, but it was your children as well, what was that like?" Thomas asked.
"Luckily, they are so young that we haven't communicated any of this to them. But, we as a family had to go get HIV and STD testing," she said. "All the joy that comes with a birthday and cupcakes and all the amazing celebrations that happen with that kind of thing is now, in my mind, always associated with that. And, watching them enjoy those things is not the same anymore."
Masalta, a registered sex offender, was previously arrested in California for placing video recording devices inside church bathrooms to see girls and women using toilets.
The woman Thomas spoke with said Masalta's alleged actions in Colorado have tarnished her ability to enjoy everyday life. She noted she has to drive by the Safeway in question twice daily. She also said, when she goes to grocery stores now, she can't see the bakery section as normally as she once could.
"You should be able to go to a kid's birthday party and not worry about eating cupcakes," she said.
After being arrested by FCPS, Masalta's defense attorney and the prosecution reached a plea agreement. In exchange for a guilty plea, Masalta would've been sentenced to 364 days in jail with credit for time served. He would also have to undergo 10 years of intensive sexual offender probation supervision. The deal also had other financial stipulations. However, due to spending most of 2024 in jail, Masalta was nearly released to community corrections after the agreement would have been processed through sentencing by a judge.
However, Masalta was not accepted into community corrections, also known as a halfway house. The plea agreement was then voided, as acceptance into community corrections was listed as a deal breaker for the agreement which Masalta had already signed.
The woman CBS News Colorado interviewed was one of just several victims of Masalta's alleged actions that told Thomas they felt the initial plea was poorly constructed.
"According to the documents we obtained, he was convicted of sex crimes in California. He is accused of exposing himself at coffee shops. He is accused of contaminating food your children ate. What was you response when you saw the plea agreement he was offered?" Thomas asked.
"Disappointment," she said. "I don't think what they have done is enough in my opinion," she said. "In our opinion the harsh end of the spectrum should be given with the pattern and reach of these crimes."
A Larimer County judge rescheduled sentencing for Dec. 20, giving several weeks for Masalta and the prosecution to potentially iron out a new plea agreement. It is also possible that the case could now more forward toward trial.
District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin's office said they were unable to conduct an interview for this report due to the case remaining open as of Friday. However, they issued the following statement.
"As we've stated in previous hearings of this case, the law is completely inadequate to account for the nature of these incidents. We are constrained by the law and the required concurrent sentencing of most of these counts, and our goal remains to piece together the greatest level of accountability possible for the community. We are committed to doing everything we can to deter this type of behavior and get justice for these victims who are rightfully traumatized."
The woman CBS News Colorado spoke with said her family is hoping the plea agreement falling through will result in Masalta being convicted and sentenced to extended time in prison.
"Has this changed how you see and experience life forever?" Thomas asked.
"It does. It is so upsetting," she said as she wiped away tears. "I hope someday I will be able to move forward and not have that happen. I feel very upset that that has been something that has been taken from us."
