After meeting the youngster while on duty, the officer forced and groomed her into having sex and was sentenced to at least three years in prison.
After getting a statement from the 15-year-old following her physical assault at school, Matthew Robert Townsend acknowledged chasing her.
The schoolgirl was the target of a 29-year-old former probationary policeman who discovered her account through tagged images and used social media messaging to pursue her.
“You’re cute, would you like to meet up?” He texted her first, then identified himself as the policeman she had spoken to at school.
Townsend threatened to get them both in jail if the girl didn’t keep the contact a secret.
After entering a guilty plea to two charges of engaging in sexual activity with a child between the ages of 14 and 16, he was sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison and a maximum of six years.
The judge in NSW District Court, Julia Baly, highlighted a “clear power imbalance” between the two, citing both the large age difference and Townsend’s position as a police officer.
She noted that because the victim first resisted Townsend’s advances, any agreement from her should be weighed against that.
Baly admitted that there was some coercion involved.”I do not accept he was not alive to the coercion.”
Townsend premeditated and methodically carried out his crime against a girl who was vulnerable because of her age and personal circumstances, “grossly and egregiously” abusing the confidence placed in him.
“He was a police officer who was on duty investigating a potential offence involving this victim, where he commenced his course of priming her for his sexual gratification,” Baly stated.
Townsend urged the victim to have sex with him by using more and more sexualized language in his communications.
Additionally, he had written down her phone number in his police notebook, which he brought up later when they drove to a parking lot and he bought her Vodka Cruisers.
Townsend was afraid his roommates might call the police on their own, so he decided not to bring the teenager to his shared residence.
A few days later, Townsend purchased her a mango energy drink and some vapes. He also had another sex with her while showing her around his car and chatting with her about his work as a police officer.
The judge stated that Townsend’s offences were already grave, but his position as a police officer made them far worse.
He was taken into jail on October 20, 2022, and on September 30, 2025, he will be eligible for release.
