# Small Town Secrets

An episode of [Badge of Betrayal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1852919243), 2 Jun 2026, 20 min.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/2544644999/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/fbab9570-a7a3-4fd4-a673-b3940044b1b8/5dfe012c-3324-458a-bab9-b45d00779127/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=2f1fa4b5-119b-41b5-8749-b3940044b5a4

A new source comes forward with troubling memories of Paul Reynolds in a small Tasmanian town including claims about inappropriate conversations, late-night drives, and the company he kept. As we follow that thread, it leads back to another town, another former officer, and allegations involving young women that have never been publicly tested in court. We also look at recent charges involving current and former Tasmania Police officers, the long-running question of whether there was something wider inside the system, and what happened when we tried to access documents explaining why Reynolds’ death was investigated alongside three other police deaths. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Podshape at proton.me is the email address where you can
[0:15] Speaker 1: share confidential information that you think might help in our
[0:19] Speaker 1: reporting on the Reynolds case. You've heard across the last
[0:22] Speaker 1: couple of episodes, when you open that can of worms,
[0:24] Speaker 1: often you get things you might not expect. Maybe not
[0:28] Speaker 1: just about Reynolds, but about others in the Tasmanian system
[0:31] Speaker 1: who maybe didn't even know Reynolds, but still have valuable.
[0:34] Speaker 2: Information to share with us.
[0:37] Speaker 1: The information I'm about to share happened in a small
[0:40] Speaker 1: Tasmanian town. But right now I can't give you any
[0:44] Speaker 1: more info than that. What I can tell you is
[0:46] Speaker 1: that Reynolds worked in this town for more than three years.
[0:51] Speaker 1: It was a small town, and at the time Reynolds
[0:53] Speaker 1: was a sergeant. most likely one of the highest ranking
[0:56] Speaker 1: officers at that station. There may have also been a
[0:59] Speaker 1: senior sergeant or inspector available, but for the most part,
[1:02] Speaker 1: Reynolds would be seen as the boss man in this
[1:05] Speaker 1: small regional town. A verified source has come forward via
[1:10] Speaker 1: that anonymous email to give details.
[1:12] Speaker 2: About some interactions he had with Reynolds.
[1:16] Speaker 1: Now, this person wasn't a police officer, but they did
[1:19] Speaker 1: have a connection with a community-based emergency team. He told
[1:23] Speaker 1: me that Reynolds was a bit of a deviant. He
[1:25] Speaker 1: would always be inappropriate when they met. He would often
[1:29] Speaker 1: be talking sexually. But in the person that came forward's words,
[1:32] Speaker 1: it's not like he made a pass at me or anything.
[1:35] Speaker 1: But it was always a little bit uncomfortable. The source
[1:41] Speaker 1: that came forward via email went on to tell me
[1:44] Speaker 1: that it was unusual when he heard the podcast because
[1:47] Speaker 1: Reynolds wouldn't be talking about boys anymore. he'd be talking
[1:51] Speaker 1: dirty about girls. Now, I know this is a little strange,
[1:55] Speaker 1: but that struck me hard because I've never heard of
[1:58] Speaker 1: allegations of Reynolds being inappropriate with young girls. The allegations
[2:03] Speaker 1: we've always heard that he was more into young men.
[2:06] Speaker 1: In fact, that's all we've ever heard. The person that
[2:09] Speaker 1: came forward had.
[2:10] Speaker 2: An interesting theory.
[2:11] Speaker 1: Maybe Reynolds was talking about girls as a way to
[2:14] Speaker 1: fit in with the other people that he was hanging around.
[2:17] Speaker 1: And that's where the other allegations surfaced. This source told
[2:21] Speaker 1: me that Reynolds and another man, who was part of
[2:24] Speaker 1: a community team, would hang out together all the time.
[2:28] Speaker 1: He alleges that Reynolds and this other man would often
[2:31] Speaker 1: be seen together. The dirty talk about young girls was
[2:35] Speaker 1: a feature of their conversations. Often these two men would
[2:39] Speaker 1: go on late night drives together in Reynolds' police car,
[2:43] Speaker 1: driving the streets of this small country regional town, often
[2:47] Speaker 1: till 2 or 3am in the morning. I remind you,
[2:50] Speaker 1: this other man was not a police officer. So what
[2:54] Speaker 1: were they doing that late at night, driving the streets
[2:57] Speaker 1: of this small country town? Now, if they'd both been
[3:01] Speaker 1: police officers, it might be different, but with one being
[3:04] Speaker 1: a civilian, you can only really think the worst. In
[3:08] Speaker 1: a small regional town where I can imagine not much
[3:11] Speaker 1: happens after 10pm, to have a police car patrolling the
[3:15] Speaker 1: streets till the early hours of the mornings, feels sus
[3:19] Speaker 1: at best. This MO feels like another story from another
[3:26] Speaker 1: town in Tasmania. It's a town that Reynolds was connected
[3:31] Speaker 1: to via a coroner's inquest about the young 15-year-old girl
[3:37] Speaker 1: that passed away in Westbrook. We heard of similar allegations
[3:42] Speaker 1: of another police officer prowling the streets of St Helens
[3:46] Speaker 1: late at night Here's an excerpt from that podcast. We've
[3:50] Speaker 1: changed this person's voice to be able to keep her anonymous.
[3:54] Speaker 3: I've just never really spoken out about it. It's been
[3:58] Speaker 3: something that I've just kept to myself.
[4:00] Speaker 4: And this happened how long ago?
[4:03] Speaker 3: In 2015.
[4:07] Speaker 2: What age were you then?
[4:08] Speaker 3: I was 17.
[4:11] Speaker 4: Is it okay if I ask you to recount what
[4:14] Speaker 4: you recall of.
[4:16] Speaker 3: Yeah, that's fine. so pretty much as young teenagers around
[4:21] Speaker 3: this town do they have parties and little get togethers
[4:28] Speaker 3: so I was at a party it started to get
[4:33] Speaker 3: a bit full on so I decided to walk home
[4:38] Speaker 3: and it was up the Long Bay Road where I
[4:43] Speaker 3: was so I only had to walk into St Helens
[4:46] Speaker 3: which is probably five minutes, five minutes. And I had
[4:53] Speaker 3: my headphones in, not really taking in what was happening
[4:58] Speaker 3: around me, just wanted to get home. And I seen
[5:03] Speaker 3: little red lights start flashing and I was like, oh,
[5:08] Speaker 3: someone's getting pulled over. Nothing to do with me. And
[5:12] Speaker 3: then the police officer and the cop car was right
[5:18] Speaker 3: beside me and I took my headphone out as I've
[5:22] Speaker 3: always been taught to respect the officer and stuff like that.
[5:29] Speaker 3: So I took my headphones out and then it was
[5:37] Speaker 3: and he was one of the police officers down here
[5:42] Speaker 3: and he asked me if I wanted a ride home
[5:47] Speaker 3: and I said nah I'm right I've only got a
[5:50] Speaker 3: walk up the road a bit and prior to that
[5:58] Speaker 3: of me answering and responding to him asking me for
[6:03] Speaker 3: a ride he then requested that I had to pay
[6:08] Speaker 3: him in a way that I shouldn't have to pay
[6:14] Speaker 3: any officer or anything. He asked if I could do
[6:25] Speaker 3: a sexual favour or at least wash him.
[6:31] Speaker 4: Do you remember, and I'm sorry I have to ask this,
[6:33] Speaker 4: but do you remember the exact words he used?
[6:42] Speaker 3: Um.
[6:45] Speaker 3: Not exactly but pretty much he asked and informed me
[6:52] Speaker 3: that he's given a few other girls ride home and
[6:58] Speaker 3: they didn't um hesitate.
[7:01] Speaker 1: At the time you were 17 yep and were you.
[7:06] Speaker 4: Under the influence of anything at the.
[7:08] Speaker 3: Time yeah i was intoxicated like i was If anyone
[7:13] Speaker 3: seen me walking, they would be able to tell that
[7:16] Speaker 3: I was intoxicated, like I was tripping over and stumbling.
[7:22] Speaker 4: This officer, was he alone in the car?
[7:25] Speaker 3: Yes, which is what I thought I heard.
[7:27] Speaker 4: What time of the evening was it, do you remember?
[7:30] Speaker 3: About 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, because it was only dusk
[7:37] Speaker 3: and not dark.
[7:39] Speaker 4: So what happens next after the officer.
[7:42] Speaker 1: allegedly propositioned you?
[7:46] Speaker 3: I said, no, thank you, I'm right. And started walking home. Well,
[7:52] Speaker 3: actually running home. Not every day that a police officer,
[7:57] Speaker 3: someone that's in uniform that you're meant to trust, says
[8:01] Speaker 3: something like that to you. So I started running home
[8:04] Speaker 3: and he was in the police car following me home.
[8:10] Speaker 4: And then what happened?
[8:12] Speaker 3: And by the time I got to my yard, I
[8:16] Speaker 3: just used my key and went straight inside and went
[8:19] Speaker 3: straight to bed. I knew mum was on night shift,
[8:21] Speaker 3: so I knew that, like, as the mother's instinct, she
[8:27] Speaker 3: would know something was up. So I just went in,
[8:31] Speaker 3: went straight to bed and haven't really said anything about
[8:35] Speaker 3: it until now.
[8:37] Speaker 4: Your dad was home at the time.
[8:39] Speaker 2: Did you tell him?
[8:40] Speaker 3: No, because... my dad would have been the one that
[8:47] Speaker 3: would have ended up in handcuffs.
[8:49] Speaker 1: And so after that, that evening, you wake up the
[8:53] Speaker 1: next morning, what happens?
[8:55] Speaker 3: I just get up and go about my business. But
[9:00] Speaker 3: every time I've seen a cop car or cop car
[9:03] Speaker 3: went past me, even to this day, I still flinch
[9:08] Speaker 3: about cop cars or red and blue lights.
[9:12] Speaker 4: Did you see him after that?
[9:14] Speaker 1: After he allegedly propositioned you that night?
[9:17] Speaker 3: I did see him once, but that was like a
[9:20] Speaker 3: year later when I was 18.
[9:22] Speaker 4: And did he say anything about anything?
[9:26] Speaker 3: No, he didn't, but he kept trying to give this
[9:31] Speaker 3: young lady a lift home and I was not having that, so.
[9:35] Speaker 1: A reminder, we're not talking about the same people here. However,
[9:39] Speaker 1: both the allegations against the police officer in St Helens...
[9:43] Speaker 1: And this other worker in a community role, both knew Reynolds.
[9:51] Speaker 1: Reynolds was Facebook friends with the officer in St Helens. Now,
[9:54] Speaker 1: I know Facebook friends doesn't equate to great mates. I
[9:57] Speaker 1: certainly have people on my Facebook page that I've never met. However,
[10:01] Speaker 1: as a police officer, you'd be a little more strategic
[10:03] Speaker 1: and wary of who you expose. friend requests from. The
[10:08] Speaker 1: officer from St Helens is no longer a police officer.
[10:12] Speaker 1: We have information that states that he's currently under a
[10:14] Speaker 1: police professional standards investigation. We're unaware of what that investigation
[10:19] Speaker 1: is in regards to. We've been told by at least
[10:23] Speaker 1: five different sources that this man was inappropriate with young
[10:26] Speaker 1: women while wearing the badge. We're not naming the officer here,
[10:30] Speaker 1: but an RTI decision letter shows that a Tasmanian politician
[10:34] Speaker 1: sought records about this officer, including service records, complaints, transfer information,
[10:40] Speaker 1: intelligence reports, rosters and any briefings connected to senior.
[10:45] Speaker 2: Police or review bodies.
[10:48] Speaker 1: The response from the RTI office didn't provide most of
[10:51] Speaker 1: the material. Some information was refused under law enforcement and
[10:56] Speaker 1: personal privacy exemptions and in other areas Tasmanian Police said
[11:00] Speaker 1: no records were found. The department also said that the
[11:05] Speaker 1: relevant 2015 rosters could not be located. These were rosters
[11:09] Speaker 1: around the death of Eden Westbrook. They also said that
[11:13] Speaker 1: if they had existed, only as paper records, they were
[11:16] Speaker 1: most likely destroyed. One clear piece of information was confirmed
[11:21] Speaker 1: by this RTI. The officer named in the request is
[11:25] Speaker 1: no longer employed by Tasmanian Police. Now this is the
[11:38] Speaker 1: same officer that we've been looking into since 2022. Firstly,
[11:41] Speaker 1: as mentioned, as part of the Eden Westbrook case, and
[11:44] Speaker 1: now as badge of betrayal. We understand multiple people have
[11:47] Speaker 1: referenced him in numerous reports. We also understand that other
[11:51] Speaker 1: media outlets are chasing the same information. We don't know
[11:55] Speaker 1: if this person is facing charges. And right now, these
[11:59] Speaker 1: are just allegations. For a long time, with people reporting
[12:07] Speaker 1: on child abuse in Tasmania, there's been a belief that
[12:10] Speaker 1: there is a wider network of people who form part
[12:13] Speaker 1: of a pedophile ring. That's never been proven. Since the
[12:17] Speaker 1: Weiss Review concluded in 2024, at least three current or
[12:21] Speaker 1: former Tasmanian police officers have been publicly reported as charged
[12:26] Speaker 1: with alleged child sexual abuses or child exploitation-related offences. These
[12:33] Speaker 1: are currently only allegations and are before the courts, so
[12:36] Speaker 1: we'll give you precise details. The first case was reported
[12:40] Speaker 1: in January 2025. when detectives from Tasmanian Police and Family
[12:44] Speaker 1: Sexual Violence travelled to Queensland and charged a 74-year-old former
[12:49] Speaker 1: police sergeant. The charge was persistent sexual abuse of a
[12:53] Speaker 1: young person. Tasmanian Police said the man was bailed to
[12:57] Speaker 1: appear in the Bernie Magistrates Court. The second case was reported...
[13:06] Speaker 1: just a month later in 2025. A 54-year-old serving Tasmanian
[13:10] Speaker 1: police officer was charged after a joint Tasmanian police and
[13:14] Speaker 1: Australian Federal Police investigation. Police said the officer was charged
[13:18] Speaker 1: with accessing child abuse material and was immediately stood down
[13:22] Speaker 1: from duty. The ABC later identified him as Sergeant Dale
[13:25] Speaker 1: Cook and reported the charge as using a carriage.
[13:29] Speaker 2: Service for child abuse material.
[13:31] Speaker 1: Tasmanian Police said it was also conducting full investigation into
[13:35] Speaker 1: the former officer and called for public information. Mr Cook's
[13:39] Speaker 1: case is listed for a plea on.
[13:41] Speaker 2: The 9th of June, 2026.
[13:43] Speaker 1: The third case was reported in May 2025. Tasmanian Police
[13:51] Speaker 1: said detectives from Task Force Artemis extracted an 84-year-old man
[13:55] Speaker 1: from Queensland to Tasmania over alleged historical child sexual abuse offences.
[14:01] Speaker 1: He was a police officer in Tasmania for some time
[14:04] Speaker 1: in the 70s. Police said he was charged with three
[14:07] Speaker 1: counts of persistent sexual abuse of a child.
[14:10] Speaker 2: And three counts of indecent assault. The ABC reported that
[14:13] Speaker 2: the alleged abuse occurred.
[14:14] Speaker 1: In Tasmania between 1963 and 1982 and involved multiple victim-survivors
[14:21] Speaker 1: connected to the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Again,
[14:27] Speaker 1: these are allegations and they're before the court. They're not
[14:30] Speaker 1: findings of guilt in this podcast. As part of our
[14:37] Speaker 1: reporting about the Reynolds matter, we sought records about the
[14:40] Speaker 1: coronial process. As mentioned, Reynolds' death was never treated entirely
[14:44] Speaker 1: on its own. It was investigated along with the deaths
[14:48] Speaker 1: of three other police officers. as a single joint inquest
[14:52] Speaker 1: under Section 50B.
[14:54] Speaker 2: The.
[14:55] Speaker 5: Coroner investigating the deaths of four police officers who took
[14:58] Speaker 5: their own lives, finding failed systems and processes, played some part.
[15:03] Speaker 2: In three of them.
[15:04] Speaker 5: I'm sure there are opportunities for us to have done
[15:06] Speaker 5: things differently and we'll reflect on that.
[15:08] Speaker 3: Absolutely, we want to support our officers.
[15:11] Speaker 5: Coroner Simon Cooper recommending a raft of changes, including a
[15:15] Speaker 5: fatigue management policy, a log of severe incidents... and better
[15:19] Speaker 5: support for officers under investigation for misconduct.
[15:24] Speaker 1: This joint investigation is referenced in the findings dated 1
[15:27] Speaker 1: September 2023. Now we're not suggesting that the circumstances of
[15:32] Speaker 1: each death were the same, or that the same facts
[15:35] Speaker 1: applied to each case, but the decision to investigate the
[15:38] Speaker 1: four matters together raised an important process question. What was
[15:42] Speaker 1: the basis for bringing them together? So, through Right to Information,
[15:46] Speaker 1: we asked for documents showing how that decision was made.
[15:50] Speaker 1: We requested any written direction issued under Section 50, any
[15:53] Speaker 1: draft directions or internal notes, memoranda, correspondence, to try and
[15:58] Speaker 1: explain the rationale for consolidating the investigations. We also asked
[16:04] Speaker 1: for any briefing notes prepared for the coroner about whether
[16:06] Speaker 1: the four matters should be investigated jointly, including any documents
[16:10] Speaker 1: analysing whether there was a sufficient nexus between the deaths.
[16:17] Speaker 1: We also requested any submissions or correspondence received from Tasmanian
[16:20] Speaker 1: police professional standards, legal representatives, family members, next of kin
[16:25] Speaker 1: or other interested parties about the scope of the inquest
[16:29] Speaker 1: or the decision to consolidate the full matters. Really what
[16:33] Speaker 1: we're looking for was anything from a conference where consolidation,
[16:37] Speaker 1: scope and jurisdiction or the joint investigation was discussed. In
[16:43] Speaker 1: simple terms, we were asking why were these four deaths
[16:46] Speaker 1: investigated together?
[16:47] Speaker 2: Who was consulted? What reasons were recorded?
[16:50] Speaker 1: And what documents exist showing the decision-making process behind that
[16:54] Speaker 1: joint inquest? We lodged this right to information request in
[16:59] Speaker 1: February of 2026. We received a response from the Magistrates
[17:05] Speaker 1: Court of Tasmania. The Department of Justice transferred our right
[17:08] Speaker 1: to information application to the court on the basis that
[17:11] Speaker 1: the subject matter was more closely connected to the functions
[17:14] Speaker 1: of the court. But the court didn't release any documents. Instead,
[17:22] Speaker 1: the response said the information was held by the court
[17:25] Speaker 1: and exempt in full under Section 6 of Tasmania's Right
[17:28] Speaker 1: to Information Act. The court's position was the Right to
[17:32] Speaker 1: Information Act does not apply to information held by the
[17:35] Speaker 1: court unless that information relates to the administration.
[17:39] Speaker 2: Of the court. In this case.
[17:43] Speaker 1: The delegated officer said the information we were seeking did
[17:46] Speaker 1: not relate to the administration of the court.
[17:49] Speaker 2: And on that basis, the court said the.
[17:51] Speaker 1: Information was excluded from the operation of the act and
[17:54] Speaker 1: wouldn't be provided. Now that all may be legally correct,
[18:03] Speaker 1: but it leaves a much bigger question. What happens when
[18:06] Speaker 1: the documents that could explain an important public decision are
[18:10] Speaker 1: sit behind language that says the public has no right
[18:12] Speaker 1: to access them. Because public interest doesn't disappear just because
[18:17] Speaker 1: a document is held in a place where an RTI
[18:19] Speaker 1: can't reach. And in cases involving police, vulnerable people, allegations
[18:25] Speaker 1: of institutional failure and death that raise broader questions, transparency
[18:30] Speaker 1: is important. Not because every allegation is proven, and not
[18:34] Speaker 1: because every suspicion is correct, but because trust depends on
[18:39] Speaker 1: being able to see how decisions were made. The law
[18:43] Speaker 1: may say some documents are exempt. It might say some
[18:45] Speaker 1: records are outside of the Act altogether. It also might
[18:49] Speaker 1: say that privacy, intelligence, court function or legal process must
[18:52] Speaker 1: come first. But for families, survivors and the public, that
[18:58] Speaker 1: can mean the same thing in practice, that the questions
[19:01] Speaker 1: remain and the documents that might answer them stay out
[19:04] Speaker 1: of reach. So we're left with this. There was a
[19:08] Speaker 1: joint coronial process. There was a decision to investigate these
[19:11] Speaker 1: matters together. There may have been a reasoning behind that decision,
[19:16] Speaker 1: but through the usual public information channels, we've not been
[19:19] Speaker 1: able to see it. And when a system asks the
[19:23] Speaker 1: public to trust its conclusions but doesn't allow the public
[19:26] Speaker 1: to fully examine the process behind those conclusions, it creates
[19:31] Speaker 1: a gap, a gap between legality and transparency. The gap
[19:35] Speaker 1: between what is technically allowed to be withheld and what
[19:39] Speaker 1: the public may reasonably expect to understand. And in that gap,
[19:44] Speaker 1: questions survive.
[19:45] Speaker 3: Thank you.

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