A teenager came forward to police to report a sexual assault only for a senior officer to abuse her.
The NSW detective, 58-year-old Glen Coleman, will now spend at least two years in jail after being found guilty of abusing his position as an officer by twice sexually touch the 19-year-old without her consent in 2022.
Coleman sat through Judge Robert Montgomery’s lengthy sentence with his head in his hands on Thursday, as the judge decried his misuse of a public office to violate a vulnerable person who came to police seeking safety.
At an interview room at Windsor police station, northwest of Sydney, and at a local park, the married detective asked to see the woman’s breasts and then touched them without her permission.
He asked for sexual favours in exchange for money, attended a strip club to see her dance and, on one occasion at the police station, placed $70 on the interview room table before they had sex.
A NSW District Court jury acquitted him of three counts of rape and four further counts of sexual touching without consent.
The fact Coleman ignored the safety of a sexual assault complainant would damage the trust the community needed to have in its police force, making the offending “starkly serious”, the judge said.
“While he was aware of his serious breaches of police force guidelines, he decided to continue damaging public trust (and) causing damage to the victim," Judge Montgomery said.
Coleman had been a serving officer for 21 years at the time of his offending.
He broke the police code of conduct, did not declare a conflict of interest after engaging with the victim and requested to remain investigating the case when he was to move from Windsor station.
He was supported by three people in court, two of whom sobbed throughout the detailing of his crimes.
The judge referenced a Snapchat message in which Coleman offered the teenager $700 for two hours of sex at a motel.
“This was startlingly plain evidence before the jury of the offender's conduct in his pursuit of the victim for his sexual gratification,” Judge Montgomery said.
“His desire to engage in sexual conduct, to continue negotiating, to pay for lap dances and other sexual conduct drove his course of misconduct.”
At an earlier hearing, the victim told the court her trust in police had been shattered.
“I trusted I could confide in police and they would take my situation seriously (but) unfortunately that wasn’t the case and I was taken advantage of,” she said.
Expert evidence led the judge to conclude Coleman’s offending was at least partially due to mental impairment, including through trauma he experienced while working in the police.
But he said that did little to reduce his culpability due to the “connivance” and planning he showed throughout the offending.
Judge Montgomery imposed a sentence of three years and seven months, with a non-parole period of two years and two months.
Having already served six months on remand, Coleman could be eligible for release in July 2026.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
