Tasmanian sergeant received police funeral despite being accused of child sexual abuse
A Tasmanian sergeant received a police funeral and a full honour guard despite the police minister’s office being provided with information showing that the officer was subject to child sexual abuse allegations.
The revelations are contained in documents released under right to information laws showing that the then police minister, Michael Ferguson, was provided information about allegations of criminal conduct against Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds after his death.
The material provided explains that a search of Reynolds’ home had been carried out on 12 September 2018 by Tasmanian police professional standards.
“The search was as a result of recently received information that raised concerns about the nature of Senior Sergeant Reynolds’ relationship with a number of male youths,” it said.
A day after the search, Reynolds took his own life.
The note outlining these allegations was provided to Ferguson on 17 September 2018. It was signed three weeks later by Ferguson on 8 October, indicating the time at which he read it.
A police funeral was held for Reynolds on 19 September in Launceston.
An interim report from January by the independent review into the handling of the investigation into allegations against Reynolds found he groomed and sexually abused teenage boys between 1988 and 2018.
The police commissioner, Donna Adams, apologised for the decision to hold the funeral, but it was noted by the independent review that the apology was only made five years after the event.
“Participants voiced their dismay at having attended a full police funeral for Paul Reynolds when it was known that he was under investigation for criminal conduct towards young males,” the review found.
“The apology of Commissioner Adams for holding a police funeral has been reflected on positively by those participants who have spoken about it, however some questioned why it came five years after the funeral and not immediately afterwards, when the Professional Standards investigation was closed.”
The full report by former war crimes prosecutor Regina Weiss is due in the middle of 2024.
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Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the Tasmanian Greens leader, Rosalie Woodruff, said she did not believe it was “credible” that Ferguson was not aware of the allegations.
“We want to understand why he didn’t stop any support for that funeral,” she said. “We want to understand why it took him weeks to sign off on it. He obviously had the information before the funeral.
“This is the sort of culture that the commission of inquiry has spoken or, or they have spoken of things being dismissed and things not being acted on. And we are very concerned.”
The Labor MP Dean Winter echoed these concerns, saying he believed it was “impossible” that the former minister was not aware.
“If information relating to a police officer committing child sex offences comes in, the Police Minister would have been made aware of it,” he said. “Why else was the information provided?”
Ferguson rejected claims he was aware of the issue but had ignored them as a state election was looming. He also said he agreed that the decision by the police commissioner to grant a police funeral was a mistake.
“I note this RTI was released in November last year and it does seem unusual that it has not been raised until an election,” Ferguson said. “The briefing not is logged as being received by my office on September 18th, 2018.
“I can’t say exactly when I read it, but my usual practice is to sign such a note immediately after I have done so.
“I note the current police commissioner has said the decision to grant a police funeral was a mistake. I agree.”
Tasmanians go to the polls on 23 March as an embattled Liberal government has been rocked by the defection of two independents.
