Child protection cop jailed for grooming 15-year-old girl

An ex-child protection cop will spend eight months behind bars for his “predatory” conduct in grooming a 15-year-old he met during an investigation.

The mother of a 15-year-old girl who was groomed by a child protection officer says her family has not lost faith in the police service and they hope to put “the traumatic chapter” behind them now the former cop has been jailed.

Matthew Paul Hockley, 33, will spend eight months behind bars for his “predatory” conduct in grooming the teenage girl he met through an investigation into nude photos which had been circulated at her school.

Instead of protecting the student, Hockley added her on Snapchat and exchanged more than 1000 chat messages over three weeks telling the girl her “a-- should be worshipped” and that he was interested in “girls calling guys ‘Daddy’ during sex”.

Matthew Paul Hockley will spend eight months behind bars before being eligible for parole. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

Hockley faced Brisbane District Court on Tuesday where he was sentenced to two years’ jail after being found guilty of grooming a child under 16 and using electronic communication to procure a child under 16.

Outside court the teenager’s mother said she was grateful to the officers from the ethical standards command who had “restored their faith in the police service”.

“Meeting these detectives made me realise that there are people in the police service that are there for the right reasons,” she said.

“I’m just happy that this chapter has closed and we look forward to putting this traumatic event behind us. I’m just so grateful my daughter came forward when she did.”

During Hockley’s trial, prosecutor Judith Geary told the court the officer had sent the girl sexualised messages between July and August 2019 while serving as a senior constable at the Inala child protection and investigation unit.

In messages photographed by the girl Hockley wrote “heading home to get naked and relax” and “I was so cold last night. Needed you to warm me up”.

He also told the girl about a sexual encounter he had with her mother and invited the teenager to share a bed with him in a Sunshine Coast apartment.

Ms Geary told the court that his actions had eroded public confidence in the police force and his former unit had been targeted by the public who had sent abusive letters and online messages.

“His role was to protect children and his offending was a complete breach of that trust in him,” Ms Geary said.

“His conduct can only be described as predatory.”

Barrister Matt Black argued that Hockley should serve a community-based sentence because the former police officer was at a “heightened risk” of harm in prison and had been subject to intense public shaming after his case was publicised.

Mr Black said the father-of-two had never attempted to meet up with the teenager and the messages were sent over a “relatively brief” period of time.

Judge Bernard Porter agreed with defence submissions that the language Hockley had used was at the “less serious end” and he had not used any bribery or manipulation to silence the teenager.

But Judge Porter said his offending had struck “at the heart of the confidence of the public and the complainant in the police service”.

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“The mere fact that a person who is a sworn officer would engage in this conduct is abhorrent,” Judge Porter said.

“Next, it is made worse by the fact that he was a sworn officer working in child protection.

“Finally it was made even worse by the fact that he betrayed his oath by grooming a young woman who he had conned into contact with while investigating offending by and against her.”