Tasmanian sergeant received police funeral
despite being accused of child sexual abuse
Minister was provided information about allegations against Paul Reynolds before ceremony.
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.”
This attitude revictimizes Reynolds victims, apparently, without so much as a thought to their suffering.
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 (note?) 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.
JSO failed to follow up on multiple complaints of child sex abuse against man years before he was charged
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4JAX I-TEAM has obtained records showing for years, police didn’t thoroughly investigate allegations against a Jacksonville man now charged with operating a child sex trafficking ring.
Records uncovered by the News4JAX I-TEAM show from 2010 to 2015, multiple people told police Duane Sikes was abusing boys, but JSO’s own records show some of those allegations were never followed up on.
It wasn’t until 2018, when Sikes was investigated, and eventually convicted, for embezzling millions of dollars from his employer, VyStar Credit Union, that investigators made the connection to potential victims, who he’s accused of paying for nude photos.
Sikes is now charged with three counts of child sex trafficking and 50 counts of producing child sexual abuse material.
The News4JAX I-TEAM showed Crime and Safety Analyst, Tom Hackney, the multiple reports on Duane Sikes received starting in 2010.
“I’m embarrassed. I’m flabbergasted,” Hackney said.
He spent nearly three decades as an investigator at JSO, including when these reports were made.
We asked Hackney if he was in the units that would have investigated these complaints.
“At that point in time, 2010, I would have been the Assistant Chief of crimes against persons. So, these are things that would have fallen under my purview. And honestly, they should have been something that I was aware of, but I can only be aware of it if somebody makes me aware of it,” he said. “And you know, the connection with these things are something that should have been moved up the chain of command.”
According to police records and a federal prosecutor, the first report against Sikes came in January of 2010, when a man told police his son was staying with a pedophile named Duane, who gave him money for sexual acts. The child denied it, and the report shows the investigation lasted one hour before the report was closed.
Three months later another report was made, alleging that at Sikes “may be conducting child pornography“ at his home involving someone who’s name is redacted. The person who complained said he was told of the information from several individuals who knew the subject well, whose names he shared with JSO. The complainant also shared the name of a neighbor of Sikes who “has heard suspicious activity through her fence involving the subject and [redacted].” It appears the report was closed.
Records show in 2012, police made more of an effort to interview witnesses after yet another complaint about Sikes possibly abusing a student at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. The child denied it. But later, when Sikes was being sentenced for financial crimes, the child told the court they had been abused but were scared to come forward. The case was closed in 2012 before being reopened when the investigation into Sikes’ financial crimes linked him to the victim through financial records.
Hackney says even in a case where a potential victim denies there is anything wrong, there is more officers can do, like confronting the potential suspect.
“I was a big fan of doing just that when there were times that you couldn’t prove anything...[knock on the door], ‘Hi, I’m so and so with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, this is the allegation that we have. Let’s sit down and talk about it,’” Hackney said.
Two additional reports to JSO were made in 2013 and 2015 about Sikes offering money, alcohol or drugs for photos. In the 2015 report, two people told police victims will sometimes perform sex acts on Sikes or each other, calling Sikes home “a revolving door” and “strongly advis[ing] that he be looked into.”
The officer noted the previous reports involving similar allegations against Sikes, but again, the report was closed without further investigation.
We reached out to JSO for comment. A spokesperson said, “Upon receiving the information at the time, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and our partners at the State Attorney’s Office investigated these reported incidents. It was determined there was not enough probable cause to make an arrest. Please note, that despite the outcomes of the incidents you provided, detectives continued to work methodically, and eventually Mr. Sikes was arrested for three life felonies.”
But how many boys did he go through while detectives worked methodically for years?
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