Speaker 1: Approche production.
Speaker 2: In this podcast, you've heard a lot of the allegations
Speaker 2: that Eden might have been groomed by a person in
Speaker 2: a position of power.
Speaker 1: Across the last.
Speaker 2: Thirty odd episodes, you've heard allegations about teachers, police officers,
Speaker 2: and also Eden on her own social media. One of
Speaker 2: the names that's kept coming up was the name of
Speaker 2: Paul Reynolds. He's the police officer that took his own
Speaker 2: life after the police searched his home and found evidence
Speaker 2: of child sex crimes. At the time of his death
Speaker 2: on the thirteenth of September twenty eighteen, he was a
Speaker 2: senior sergeant in the Tasmanian Police. He was given a
Speaker 2: full police funeral while the investigation for his sexual misconduct
Speaker 2: was closed and put in a police file room in
Speaker 2: Lonceston and not investigated again. It wasn't until a coroner
Speaker 2: started looking into other officers suicide in Tasmania that reynolds
Speaker 2: file was reopen. On September one, twenty twenty three, the
Speaker 2: coroner handed down his findings, which included the most likely
Speaker 2: fact was that Reynolds committed suicide because he was being
Speaker 2: investigated by police. In twenty twenty three, Donna Adams, the
Speaker 2: Police Commissioner of Tasmania, asked for an independent inquiry into
Speaker 2: reynolds crimes. It was really important to herb.
Speaker 3: I think it's probably had more of an emotional impact
Speaker 3: because of the report I made in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 4: I feel very disappointed. Yeah, it's my job to make
Speaker 4: this right.
Speaker 2: Commissioner Adams appointed a barrister, Regina Weiss, to conduct an
Speaker 2: independent investigation. It was handed down and made publicly available
Speaker 2: on the twenty eighth of June this year.
Speaker 3: This is the most prolific grooming I have seen perpetrated
Speaker 3: by one person in my career.
Speaker 2: There's a few reasons why and how this relates to
Speaker 2: Eden Westbrook's death. Firstly, the fact that Paul Reynolds was
Speaker 2: attached to the Northern Coroner's Office. He was there from
Speaker 2: the thirteenth of April twenty fifteen to the twenty seventh
Speaker 2: of February twenty seventeen. He was also named by the
Speaker 2: coroner in the inquest notes about Eden.
Speaker 5: Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds of the Long Diston Coroner's Office
Speaker 5: also provided regular oversight and direction during the investigation period.
Speaker 5: At my request, I am satisfied that have received all
Speaker 5: available evidence that could reasonably assist me to determine the
Speaker 5: matters set out in section twenty eight one of the
Speaker 5: coroners out in nineteen nine.
Speaker 2: What Jason and Amanda and everyone involved in this case
Speaker 2: were hoping for is that this report into Reynolds might
Speaker 2: shed some light on what happened to Eden, in particular
Speaker 2: the evidence that was gathered by police, and the fact
Speaker 2: that Reynolds had oversight into Eden's case, and of course
Speaker 2: the allegations that Eden was being groomed by a person
Speaker 2: in a position of power. The report from Regina Weiss
Speaker 2: was over sixty five pages long. It was very thorough
Speaker 2: and had five recommendations, which included a framework to help
Speaker 2: anyone that was groomed or sexually abused by Reynolds, another
Speaker 2: framework for anyone that had been groomed or sexually abused
Speaker 2: from any officer. It also asked for a dedicated victim
Speaker 2: management team inside the police and also asked to change
Speaker 2: the legislation of the Integrity Commission, which has asked for
Speaker 2: independent investigations into any police officer who are alleged to
Speaker 2: have groomed or sexually abused someone.
Speaker 3: He was a master at it he groomed victims, he
Speaker 3: groomed their parents, he groomed the communities, the sporting clubs,
Speaker 3: he groomed his own colleagues.
Speaker 2: Not once in that sixty five pages was Eden Westbrook's
Speaker 2: name mentioned or anything about Saint Helen's. Eighty seven people
Speaker 2: were interviewed over an eight month period with the Regina
Speaker 2: Weiss investigation. Police were not present in any of the
Speaker 2: interviews and they were done completely independent from the police.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent of the victim survivors were male, and
Speaker 2: it spanned a thirty year period. Twenty four members of
Speaker 2: Reynold's own police department were interviewed, both current and former officers.
Speaker 2: The investigation was completely trauma informed, which means the questioning
Speaker 2: and the interviews ensured the physical, psychological, cultural, and emotional
Speaker 2: safety of any person and provided an opportunity for victim
Speaker 2: survivors to regain control of their own experience. Inside the investigation,
Speaker 2: over forty thousand social media messages were seen. They spanned
Speaker 2: eight years. They looked at over five thousand text messages,
Speaker 2: two four hundred images, and almost three hundred videos.
Speaker 1: You'll remember this.
Speaker 2: All started in two thousand and eight when a social
Speaker 2: gathering at a bar which had Interstate offices attending, overheard
Speaker 2: a conversation in which Reynolds was described as a pedophile.
Speaker 2: He's an excerpt from the report. We've used AI to
Speaker 2: read some of the comments.
Speaker 4: There were two specific examples of alleged inappropriate conduct discussed
Speaker 4: amongst the group in the bar. One related to Reynolds
Speaker 4: having been witnessed giving a teenage boy a massage in
Speaker 4: his home as the teenage boy sat between Reynolds's legs.
Speaker 4: The other involved the wife of one of the police
Speaker 4: officers being asked by concerned members of the community about
Speaker 4: rumors of Reynolds purportedly consorting with teenage boys. The interstate
Speaker 4: police officers were alarmed, despite the social nature of the conversation,
Speaker 4: and rightly reported what they had overheard to a Tasmania
Speaker 4: Police Divisional inspector, who, in adhering to protocol and procedure,
Speaker 4: formally reported it up the hierarchical line to the commander
Speaker 4: of the then Internal Investigations Unit. An assistant commissioner at
Speaker 4: the time, who had also heard the conversation in the
Speaker 4: police Academy bar, made a statement to the effect that
Speaker 4: there was no mention of Reynolds being a pedophile and
Speaker 4: that the conversation had been misunderstood by the interstate police officers.
Speaker 4: He further noted in his written statement that the allegations
Speaker 4: could be potentially very damaging consequences for a person wrongfully accused.
Speaker 4: No further investigation was pursued and the matter was closed.
Speaker 4: The recommendation of the Deputy Commissioner at the time was
Speaker 4: that Reynolds should not be told of the complaint to
Speaker 4: avoid him being upset with the two senior police officers involved.
Speaker 2: Nothing happened about that report, and everything about Reynolds being
Speaker 2: a pedophile went quiet until twenty eighteen. On September six,
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen, a Tasmanian police officer lodged a detailed complaint
Speaker 2: regarding Reynolds. He is an extract from the September sixth report,
Speaker 2: again with his day.
Speaker 6: I to read the report.
Speaker 7: The information infers the senior sergeant is procuring young persons
Speaker 7: for sexual purposes or grooming young persons. That he is
Speaker 7: sending photographs of his genitalia to children with the inference
Speaker 7: he would be receiving child exploitation material in return from them.
Speaker 7: Senior Sergeant Reynolds is heavily involved and linked in administration
Speaker 7: of Tasmanian football. Senior Sergeant Reynolds is widely reputed in
Speaker 7: the Delarraine area as being a pedophile, and it is
Speaker 7: known reputedly that you do not go to Paul's house alone.
Speaker 7: There have been a number of parents who have warned
Speaker 7: Senior Sergeant Reynolds of having anything to do with their
Speaker 7: children and sons as a result of his creepy behavior,
Speaker 7: and if he is at the club, he is watched
Speaker 7: closely and not welcome. However, due to his position as
Speaker 7: a police officer, there is a reluctance to confront him.
Speaker 7: He is reputed to groom young boys, presumably for sex,
Speaker 7: and is known to be highly inappropriate around young boys,
Speaker 7: making inappropriate sexual comments and touching them inappropriately.
Speaker 2: Within days of this report, interviews were conducted by professional standards.
Speaker 2: They spoke to officers and the teenage boys identified in
Speaker 2: the September sixth report. It included a witness who observe
Speaker 2: Reynolds massaging a naked boy at the football club clubrooms.
Speaker 2: Those interviews, a material found on the teenage boy's phone
Speaker 2: in various messaging apps including Snapchat and Facebook Messenger, revealed
Speaker 2: that Reynolds had regularly sent pictures of his penis to
Speaker 2: several teenage boys. He'd coerced teenage boys to send pictures
Speaker 2: of themselves naked. After this investigation in twenty eighteen started,
Speaker 2: Reynolds borrowed a gun from his next door neighbor and
Speaker 2: took his own life. So what happened to that investigation
Speaker 2: back in twenty eighteen after Reynolds took his life much
Speaker 2: like the one in two thousand and eight. Nothing, He's
Speaker 2: an excerpt from the report read by AI after his suicide.
Speaker 4: There was no follow up, no confirmation that there was
Speaker 4: evidence to support the claims, no wellbeing support. The investigation
Speaker 4: just ended. Not a message, not a phone call, absolutely nothing.
Speaker 2: Now, this is all really shocking information that we've brought
Speaker 2: you previously in the podcast.
Speaker 1: But how is it connected to Eden?
Speaker 2: As I said earlier, Eden's name wasn't mentioned in the report,
Speaker 2: but there are some bits that we found interesting. It
Speaker 2: did say that despite no evidence of actual manipulation of
Speaker 2: investigation or prosecuculation.
Speaker 4: Of investigations or prosecutions being uncovered, it became clear as
Speaker 4: the review progressed that Reynolds had used the perception that
Speaker 4: he had power to influence the outcome of criminal processes
Speaker 4: as a grooming mechanism. One participant who knew Reynolds through
Speaker 4: sporting administration told the review he made out he had
Speaker 4: a lot of influence in the police force.
Speaker 2: One former police officer who worked with Reynolds said, I know.
Speaker 8: There is speculation that he influenced prosecution cases. I had
Speaker 8: no idea how he could because he was never at work.
Speaker 8: He hated work. Sometimes boys would get pulled over drink driving,
Speaker 8: or there was an assault in the footy club. It
Speaker 8: was like, go and chat to Paul about it. Of
Speaker 8: course he didn't fix it, but he acted like he did.
Speaker 8: Being so naive, you just believe Paul had an influence,
Speaker 8: but in reality he never did.
Speaker 2: I now want to take a left turn and go
Speaker 2: back to the notes that Jason and Amanda took while
Speaker 2: Reynolds was looking into Eden's case back in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: These are notes that Jason kept in a scrapbook around
Speaker 2: the contact they had with police and anything else. Second
Speaker 2: of June twenty fifteen, Amanda rings the Coroner's Associate's office
Speaker 2: in Launceston. This is when Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds tells
Speaker 2: Amanda he's in charge of Eden's case. Amanda asks Reynolds
Speaker 2: how long will the investigation take. Reynolds then replies with
Speaker 2: three months if nothing suspicious, six months if they've found something,
Speaker 2: twelve months if there are people of interest, in eighteen
Speaker 2: months if highly suspicious. Amanda then again requested for detectives
Speaker 2: from Lawnceston to take over the investigation from the officers
Speaker 2: in Saint Helen's as she explained that she didn't feel
Speaker 2: they were doing enough. Fourth of June twenty fifteen, Jason
Speaker 2: and Amanda receive an email from Senior Sergeant Reynolds regarding
Speaker 2: Saint Helen's District High School and the screenshots that they
Speaker 2: sent of Kate's Facebook page. Sixteen June twenty fifteen, Amanda
Speaker 2: calls the Northern Coroner's Office in Launceston and again speaks
Speaker 2: to Paul Reynolds. Before June twenty fifteen, Amanda calls the
Speaker 2: Northern Coroner's Office in Law System and again speaks to Reynolds. Then,
Speaker 2: on the second of September twenty fifteen, Amanda makes another
Speaker 2: call to the Northern Coroner's Office in Lnceston and again
Speaker 2: speaks to Paul Reynolds. Paul said that he had sent
Speaker 2: the report back to Saint Helen's police officers. Paul said,
Speaker 2: it's not what's in it, it's what's not in it.
Speaker 2: We assumed that he was talking about the coroner's file.
Speaker 2: It seems from Jason and Amanda's notes that Reynolds was
Speaker 2: heavily engaged with Eden's case.
Speaker 5: Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds of the Lonston Coroner's Office also
Speaker 5: provided regular oversight and direction during the investigation period.
Speaker 1: At my request, welcome back.
Speaker 2: I want to take you back to the report from
Speaker 2: Regina Weiss about Reynolds and look into the allegations that
Speaker 2: maybe Reynolds was part of a petophile ring.
Speaker 3: Reynolds used sport to find and groom his victims and
Speaker 3: then eventually sexually abuse some of them. Sport was his
Speaker 3: hunting ground.
Speaker 2: You might remember, we've heard from former students who have
Speaker 2: come forward to the podcast alleging they were groomed by
Speaker 2: a teacher on basketball camps. Reynolds was connected to both
Speaker 2: the AFL and basketball in Northern Tasmania. The report made mention.
Speaker 4: Of this the extent of Reynolds's grooming and sexual abuse
Speaker 4: of young males over a prolonged period is truly shocking
Speaker 4: and horrific. However, there was nothing uncovered throughout the course
Speaker 4: of the review to show or even suggest that he
Speaker 4: was collaborating with other adults in his conduct.
Speaker 1: This next bit is shocking.
Speaker 2: It details how Reynolds was grooming and his pattern. The
Speaker 2: reason I want to read it is because we've heard
Speaker 2: from experts before that this pattern is not unusual. In fact,
Speaker 2: we've heard from victim survivors on this podcast that tell
Speaker 2: us it's the way it happened to them. The first
Speaker 2: thing that happened is he would send a friend request.
Speaker 2: He then initiates friendly conversation. He moves them from Facebook
Speaker 2: over to the messenger app. In some cases from the
Speaker 2: messages we've seen, boys seem surprised to receive initial messages
Speaker 2: from Reynolds, but engage in a conversation. Nevertheless, he's an
Speaker 2: excerpt Reynolds, he played really well today, mate, That extra
Speaker 2: training is paying off. Reynolds then begins to test boundaries.
Speaker 2: He maintains regular contact with boys, generally about football or basketball,
Speaker 2: but with the occasional inappropriate message, testing how far he
Speaker 2: could go, usually under the guise of banter. Thought you
Speaker 2: were hoping to get some hand action.
Speaker 4: I don't care.
Speaker 6: I love you anyway, even if you did it yourself.
Speaker 6: Your thing is big, isn't it beautiful?
Speaker 4: Boy?
Speaker 6: How are you? Have you been naughty?
Speaker 1: Step four or was Reynolds declaring his love.
Speaker 2: The grooming escalate with sexual innuendos becoming more prolific through
Speaker 2: declarations and feelings of love towards the boy, coupled with
Speaker 2: immediate apologies. You are all I could want. Sorry, don't
Speaker 2: hate me. I can't help it. Sorry if I embarrass you,
Speaker 2: you know how I feel. I'm sorry if that offends you.
Speaker 2: I think you're beautiful. I think I love you. I
Speaker 2: know you think I'm weird, but God, I love you.
Speaker 2: Step five is Reynolds would then move to Snapchat with photos.
Speaker 2: He entices the boys to move out of Snapchat, where
Speaker 2: messages disappear after short periods. Explicit photos are exchanged, and
Speaker 2: in some cases Reynolds coersus boys to take photos of themselves,
Speaker 2: and the final step is Reynolds rangers to meet boys
Speaker 2: in person, including picking him up in reynolds car from school,
Speaker 2: taking him to football training football on weekends, to give
Speaker 2: them massages. In some cases, sexual contact is made so
Speaker 2: we know that Reynolds groomed people through sport clubs. We
Speaker 2: also heard in the podcast last year that a friend
Speaker 2: of Reynolds, who was a young Jim junkie at the time,
Speaker 2: was also groomed. The report also brought up other areas
Speaker 2: of Reynolds abuse, but this time within his own police department.
Speaker 2: One former police officer recalled his interactions with Reynolds when
Speaker 2: he was a young recruit under reynolds authority.
Speaker 6: He sexually assaulted me twice at work. Once was in
Speaker 6: the office. He came in and groped me. It was
Speaker 6: a proper group, not a flick. He would have one
Speaker 6: hand on my chest and one hand on my private
Speaker 6: parts and he would hold you there. He would get
Speaker 6: physical with me all the time.
Speaker 2: Serving and former police officers expressed that Reynolds made the
Speaker 2: impression that he was connected to the highest echelons of
Speaker 2: Tasmania Police, which deterred junior officers from reporting his conduct
Speaker 2: for fear of impeding their chance of promotion. A serving
Speaker 2: police officer told the review that Reynolds.
Speaker 7: Made sure you knew he was untouchable.
Speaker 2: One bystander, who from a distance saw Reynolds engaging in
Speaker 2: questionable conduct with a teenage boy, said he was reluctant
Speaker 2: to report it to anyone, let alone police, for fear
Speaker 2: of reprisal. I found this bit really interesting because we've
Speaker 2: heard allegations on this podcast of police officers grooming young
Speaker 2: people in Tasmania and in particular in Saint Helen's. We've
Speaker 2: had numerous people come forward. We can also see that
Speaker 2: these police officers have been at some time friends on
Speaker 2: Facebook with Reynolds. Is it possible that Reynolds might protect
Speaker 2: other officers that were doing the same thing as him.
Speaker 2: The report looked into this and found this.
Speaker 4: Pattern of behavior, wherein Reynolds developed trusted and perceived caring
Speaker 4: relationships with his victims before escalating to sexual abuse or
Speaker 4: attempting to coerce sexual contact, is consistent with someone who
Speaker 4: worked alone rather than in a collaborative group.
Speaker 2: So that report found that Reynolds was acting alone. He
Speaker 2: didn't seem to be part of some pedophile ring. They
Speaker 2: checked his records and could see that he wasn't chatting
Speaker 2: with anyone else about his disgusting acts. He was acting alone.
Speaker 2: This report from Regina Weiss is a great step forward
Speaker 2: to reform in Tasmania. And it might save some other
Speaker 2: victims and help current victim survivors of Reynolds or any
Speaker 2: other abuse within the force.
Speaker 1: That's the hope.
Speaker 2: Our hope is that it also might uncover other police
Speaker 2: officers that are dirty, that have been grooming young girls.
Speaker 2: That might lead to some answers into how this fits
Speaker 2: into Eden Westbrook's case. Although the terms of reference for
Speaker 2: the Regina Weiss investigation related to Reynolds, people with information
Speaker 2: about grooming and all sexual abuse committed by other former
Speaker 2: or serving Tasmanian police officers have also participated in private sessions.
Speaker 2: His a bit from the report.
Speaker 4: In that context, seven referrals have been made to Tasmania Police.
Speaker 4: Another referral was made to another organization in relation to
Speaker 4: a person who is not a police officer.
Speaker 2: What this report has uncovered, which is important, is that Reynolds,
Speaker 2: who was as a report states, lazy and lacks in
Speaker 2: his police work and was attached to the Eden Westbrook case.
Speaker 2: Remember he provided regular oversight.
Speaker 5: Paul Reynolds of the Longston Coroner's Office also provided regular
Speaker 5: oversight and direction during the investigation period at my request.
Speaker 2: To make it clear, in this case, oversight means supervision
Speaker 2: of a job, and that job was the investigation into
Speaker 2: Eden Westbrook's death. Information would have been passed through Reynolds
Speaker 2: onto the coroner. Reynolds could have asked police that were
Speaker 2: investigating for information or even helping junior officers conduct a
Speaker 2: thorough investigation. Remember, Reynolds had been a cop for over
Speaker 2: thirty years. Did that play a role in what the
Speaker 2: curenter did or did not see in Eden's case? Did
Speaker 2: Reynolds miss anything along the way because he was busy
Speaker 2: trying to groom young boys? And if he did miss anything,
Speaker 2: what did he miss? Maybe the CCTV footage or the
Speaker 2: woman who has spotted on that CCTV at two am
Speaker 2: talking to Eden. What about an interview with the girl
Speaker 2: we call Kate that was done back in twenty fifteen. Finally,
Speaker 2: what did Reynolds mean when he told Amanda back on
Speaker 2: September two, twenty fifteen, when he said.
Speaker 6: It's not what's in the report, it's what's not.
Speaker 2: In the next episode of Our Little LADYE Okay, So
Speaker 2: this is the person that reached out to Jason Amanda
Speaker 2: and says they used to work in the corner's office
Speaker 2: and they've got information they want to be anonymous.
Speaker 6: So let's see how we go. As I've been listening
Speaker 6: to the podcast, you know, you've been sort of asking
Speaker 6: the questions, and I am sort of answering them in
Speaker 6: my head as they're being asked.
Speaker 2: So I think I can provide a lot of insight
Speaker 2: for you without