Former NSW Police officer Troy Robert Cridland found guilty of having sex with an underage girl

A former NSW Police officer has been found guilty of having sex with an underage girl on several occasions, despite knowing she was not old enough.

Troy Robert Cridland had sex with the 15-year-old girl several times between March and August in 2020 when he was 28.

Cridland pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child aged between 14 and 16, but following a four-week trial a jury at Lismore District Court in northern New South Wales rejected his claims. 

He admitting to having sex with the girl, and cheating on his partner at the time, but denied he knew she was under the age of 16. 

The jury handed down their verdict in less than two-and-a-half-hours, with Cridland also found guilty of using the girl to create child abuse material by asking her for nude photos, as well as attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The former policeman was accused of having sex with her while under his authority including at the police station and in a police car.

Cridland said he first met the girl on Tinder in February 2020.

The court heard the first time the pair had sex was in a tent inside the police station garage on Mother’s Day, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Cridland provided screenshots of a Tinder conversation he claimed to have had with the girl, where he alleged that she lied about her age.

However, the prosecution accused Cridland of using fake Tinder accounts to manufacture the conversation to clear his name.

‘This is fake news. These [Tinder screenshots] are fake messages,’ the prosecutor said, according to the ABC.

The prosecution also claimed CCTV footage shot outside the police station showed Cridland, the girl and her mother going through her phone to find incriminating messages.

It also alleged he told the teen: ‘If they ask you if you were in a police car, say no.’ 

The jury heard the girl’s family had raised concerns about her being bullied at school with Cridland before he had a sexual encounter with the child.

Cridland was in uniform and used a police vehicle during his encounters with the girl, hence why the court found he had authority over her. 

An officer who worked alongside Cridland at the time also confirmed he was present for a conversation about the teenager being underage, which Cridland denied.

The prosecution found the underage girl had told several lies while under cross-examination but said they weren’t ‘particularly clever’, especially when compared to Cridland’s ‘calculated deceit’. 

Cridland was taken into custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

Cridland tried to argue he did not know the girl was underage when they had sex and said they’d met on Tinder where she claimed to be 16 (stock image)