“The Police Commissioner later apologised for the funeral.” That sentence in a news report caught my eye when looking into the case of Paul Reynolds, prompted by a former senior Tasmanian lawyer and police officer. That sentence was part of a report in news.com.au which also reported that “At the time of his death in 2018, Reynolds was being internally investigated by Tasmania Police Professional Standards – but that the investigation trailed off once he died by suicide.” Now the Tasmanian Greens want to resurrect it.
You’ll be keen to know why the Police Commissioner apologised for the funeral. Read on …
This is how news.com.au reports it:
A senior Tasmanian police officer who groomed and abused boys for more than 30 years before taking his own life hid behind his status as a senior officer, a grim review has found.
Police officer and serial pedophile Paul Reynolds groomed at least 52 boys and sexually abused an unknown number of victim-survivors across 30 years until his life ended in 2018.
Only the highest police in the state knew that at the time Reynolds died that he was being investigated, and the long-time officer was still given a state funeral. [There it is…]
In 2023 the Tasmanian Police Commissioner ordered an independent review of Reynolds’ actions, to give victim-survivors support, and find what lessons the force can learn
The review report was published on in July 2024.
Barrister Regina Weiss found Reynolds used football and basketball clubs as a “hunting ground” for victims as far back as the 1980s, hiding in “plain sight” doing coaching, umpiring and administration.
Victim-survivors who came forward described Reynolds as funny and paternal. One person who was groomed and sexually assaulted by Reynolds as a teenager described him as “just the greatest groomer and ideal human. He was so charismatic everyone wanted to be around him”.
Another victim-survivor who was 15 in the 1980s said “he was my best friend. He was always crude and sexual in the way he spoke but he was the funniest man I knew. I trusted him – I thought he was the best bloke ever”.
Reynolds “ingratiated himself so convincingly as an upstanding member of the policing and sporting communities that,” it says in the review, “some members of the small communities he lived in to this day do not accept or believe that Reynolds had been capable of grooming and sexually abusing children”.
“It was his status as a senior police officer which facilitated the power imbalance that allowed Reynolds’ conduct to go unreported,” Ms Weiss wrote.
Tasmania’s Coronial Division conducted an inquest into the suicide deaths of four police officers – including Reynolds – in 2022. That Coroner’s inquest uncovered the extent of Reynolds’ actions. A few police told the review they found out at the time why Reynolds had killed himself, but others did not know the truth and later felt betrayed by the police establishment for the funeral.
The Tasmanian Greens statement says, in part:
Tasmanian Greens MPs | Statement on Further Examination of Reynolds Matter
Through information obtained using RTI and aired on the podcast this week, it has come to light that former Commissioner Darren Hine’s relationship with Paul Reynolds was much more extensive than previously understood by the public.
This new RTI shows that Mr Hine attended the Police Academy with Paul Reynolds in 1980, shows the two men started their career together at the Burnie station, and were again posted together at Burnie later that decade. Their friendship seems to have continued throughout their careers. As described by whistleblower Will Smith in 2024, Paul Reynolds “openly admitted that he had a very strong friendship with the Commissioner of Police”.
The independent Weiss Review noted that during the time both Hine and Reynolds were in the Police Academy, “loyalty to one’s policing colleagues usurped all”*. It also said “this impenetrable camaraderie assisted in concealing Reynolds’ conduct, intentionally or otherwise.”
“The Greens do not make any allegations of wrongdoing by former Commissioner Hine. We do not allege he had any knowledge of offending by Reynolds at the time it occurred. However, given this long-standing relationship, and Mr Hine’s involvement in Tasmania Police’s poor responses to circumstances involving allegations made about Reynolds in 2008 and 2018, there are clearly outstanding questions.”
* That sentiment might be relevant in any examination of other cases …
Well the Greens are doing something which they can be proud of But what about Sue Neil-Fraser no corrupt police or judiciary involved there ? Corruption can be deliberate or by pure incompetence however apologising for or ignoring a paedophiles activities by a Police Commissioner goes beyond the pale.
Another State .In Queensland we had a Grubby police Commissioner by the name of Terry Lewis .He was convicted for fraud in the Nineties and his Knighthood was cancelled .
He was a good Friend of an Uncle of mine who in 1985 was convicted of Paedophiliaand all he recieved was a $500 fine and time to pay .
He and Terry Lewis were best mates through attending the Rainworth Catholic Congregation .When the Priest from that Church was also convicted of Pedophilia both Lewis and Handy (The Uncle ) left that Congregation and went to another Catholic Church at Red Hill .
The Judge involved in Handy,s Case was Judge Shanahan .
He also ordered that the Court Documents in this case be locked away for 100 Years .WHY.
I have been trying to get an investigation into this case for years but the Journalists keep hitting a Brick Wall .
Ther is a very good book out called LITTLE FISH ARE SWEET written by Matthew Condon .It gives a very good insight into the corruption and coverups that went on in Queensland .
I believe that this same sort of corruption exists in all states .
The case of Paul Reynolds stands as a stark example of what happens when institutional loyalty overtakes institutional duty.
Reynolds, a senior officer with Tasmania Police, died by suicide in 2018 while under internal investigation. Years later, an independent review led by Regina Weiss found he had groomed at least 52 boys over three decades, using sporting clubs as a “hunting ground.” This is appalling by any community standard except it appears the police!
At the time of his death, only the highest levels of the force knew he was being investigated. Despite that, Reynolds was given a state funeral. That single decision has come to symbolise a deeper problem: when police close ranks, who are they protecting?
Then-Commissioner Darren Hine later apologised for allowing the funeral to proceed. For victim-survivors, the symbolism was devastating. A state funeral is not routine administration it is institutional honour.
The Weiss Review found that “loyalty to one’s policing colleagues usurped all” and that this “impenetrable camaraderie” helped conceal Reynolds’ conduct, intentionally or otherwise. His senior rank amplified his authority and discouraged scrutiny. His status did not merely coexist with his offending — it shielded it.
Reporting indicates that the internal investigation effectively trailed off after Reynolds’ death. Administratively convenient perhaps, but accountability should not die with the accused.
When offending spans 30 years and multiple postings, the issue is not only individual guilt. It is systems: supervision, complaint handling, leadership decisions. An institution that stops examining itself because the perpetrator is deceased risks protecting reputation over truth.
In 2026, the Tasmanian Greens called for further scrutiny after RTI disclosures revealed the long professional relationship between Reynolds and Commissioner Hine, who entered the Police Academy with him in 1980. The Greens made no allegation of wrongdoing, but argued that outstanding questions remain about how allegations in 2008 and 2018 were handled. This is not about personal accusation. It is about structural accountability and public confidence.
Policing depends on loyalty and cohesion. But when loyalty becomes absolute, it stops being a virtue. Under extreme reputational pressure — particularly when a senior officer is implicated — the instinct to contain damage can override transparency.
From the outside, that looks like protection of one’s own. The Reynolds saga shows how camaraderie, unchecked, can enable misconduct to endure. His death did not close the issue; it intensified it. Victim-survivors were left watching their abuser honoured. Officers who did not know the truth later felt misled. The public was asked to accept apologies after the fact.
When police protect police, even in the most extreme circumstances, they risk eroding the trust that underpins their authority. Those are the facts my personal bitterness may be apparent, but it does not diminish or alter the facts.