Former Tasmanian police officer Paul Reynolds groomed and sexually abused up to 52 boys over 30 years and concealed it through his status, an inquiry has heard.
Dozens of children were groomed or sexually abused by a former police officer who used his status to stealthily target his victims and their parents over three decades, a report says.
Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds used his status as a “trusted” member of the community to manipulate and abuse up to 52 young boys as early as 1988, a latest independent investigation into his conduct has found.
Reynolds, who worked for a decade after the first allegations against him surfaced, took his own life in September 2018 while under investigation for child abuse allegations.
The report, led by attorney Regina Weiss and released Thursday, heard from 87 people, including 15 surviving victims or their families.
Reynolds was found to have used his perceived power as a police officer to influence the outcome of criminal proceedings against his victims.
“But this was less reality and more a preparation tool,” Weiss said.
On one occasion, Reynolds visited a victim’s home with a police report about him, which Ms. Weiss discovered was likely fabricated, and sexually assaulted him after telling him he could make the report “go away.”
Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds used his status as a “trusted” member of the community to manipulate and abuse up to 52 young boys since 1988.
“I had never been in trouble with the law, I had kept myself clean and tidy and had always kept my nose clean,” the victim-survivor told the magazine.
“I didn’t want to get into trouble or be on the wrong side of the law.”
While Reynolds built trust and connection within the community through his role, sport was his hunting ground.
He was heavily involved in football and basketball coaching, refereeing and administration roles, including serving as president of the Northern Tasmanian Football Association at the time of his death.
As a trainer, Reynolds was seen by some as “a father figure and role model” and offered massages for the children of teenagers after claiming to have experience in sports massage.
Others were offered “special training” that unsuspecting parents had no reason to question.
“The image participants painted of Reynolds as a community member was that of a ‘larger than life’ person and a police officer who was ‘always offering help,'” Weiss said.
There was no evidence that Reynolds had any credentials in massage or sports therapy.
“I truly believe that one of the main reasons he wanted to take up the position of NTFA president was so that he could have unfiltered access to football changing rooms,” one victim-survivor told the review.
Former Tasmanian police officer Paul Reynolds groomed and sexually abused up to 52 boys over 30 years and hid it through his status, an inquiry has heard
Reynolds was able to normalize bullying and sexualized behavior in a stealthy manner through sexualized conversations and keeping secrets with teenage boys.
He would tell his victims graphic stories of encounters with women to lure them into a sense of intimacy and secrecy before the messages escalated into sexualized conversations under the guise of experimentation.
One victim, who was a teenager at the time, described Reynolds as “the best hairdresser and the ideal human being.”
“He was so charismatic that everyone wanted to be around him,” she said.
The review identified shortcomings at sporting organisations after a report was made to the highest levels of the Football Association’s board about alleged misconduct.
A records search showed that this was not passed on to the police or any other agency.
Ms. Weiss made five recommendations, all of which the State accepted.
It recommended a reparation plan, a restorative intervention framework for people sexually assaulted or groomed by officers, a dedicated victim management team within Tasmania Police and for the government to make changes to the Integrity Commission Act.
She also recommended strengthening community engagement and building trust between police and sports organizations to prevent, identify and report sexual harassment and abuse.
The Weiss report made seven references to Tasmania Police relating to other serving or former officers and one reference relating to a person who is not a police officer.
There is no evidence of sexual crimes against minors by officers currently on duty, according to the report.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Service for Support and Reparation in Cases of Sexual Abuse 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyond the blue 1300 22 4636
Children’s Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5-25)
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