<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A police officer who was hailed a vigilante hero on social media for breaking into a convicted child sex offender's outback home, tying him up and stealing $100,000 in cash has been jailed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The NSW officer, whose identity is protected by court orders, knew his 78-year-old victim had a stash of cash in a safe because he searched his home over a child sex offence in 2020.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Four years later, the officer and a co-offender drove from Sydney to break into the elderly man's home, borrowing a car, filling up jerry cans with petrol and leaving their mobile phones behind to avoid detection.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-government-shutdown-forces-flight-cuts/a3136e68-88bf-44da-b9a5-48aaee31eaa3" target="_blank"><strong><span>Travel chaos looming as thousands of US flights to be scrapped</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The pair burst into the man's home on the evening of October 3, 2024, forcing him facedown on the ground and tying his hands and feet.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They threatened him with further harm until the victim told them where the safe key was, allowing them to steal about $100,000.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The officer pleaded guilty to aggravated break and enter and was today sentenced to at least six years' jail, with a maximum term of 10 years.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/cop-who-was-hailed-a-hero-on-social-media-jailed-over-100k-robbery-from-sex-offenders-home/f17d0bd7-aae8-4927-b08b-2603247e7d62" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-teacher-shot-by-student-wins-15-million-dollar-payout/3daff3e5-d72c-4b79-b99a-e30a49c47350" target="_blank"><strong><span>US teacher shot by six-year-old student wins $15 million payout</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>NSW District Court judge Robert Newlinds said the level of the officer's offending was "very high", particularly as he misused his professional knowledge to both target the victim and avoid detection.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Use of private information gathered by the process of search warrants for anything other than proper purposes connected to the administration of justice is entirely unacceptable and must be deplored," Judge Newlinds said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The court heard the 2020 police search of the home resulted in the elderly man being charged and convicted of a child sex offence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The media attention from the 2024 robbery led to the officer being celebrated as a "hero" on social media, while the victim was shunned in his small town.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I consider the consequences to the victim to be extraordinary and over and above what might be considered usual or expected," the judge said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The victim had served his time for his crime and was entitled to be left alone to live his life without being bashed and robbed by a police officer involved in investigating his crime.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Let alone, members of the public vilifying the victim and praising the offender."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/elon-musk-first-trillionaire-tesla-pay-packet-approved/a674adac-8ea7-454a-aea8-245907dddb7b" target="_blank"><strong><span>Musk on the cusp of being first ever trillionaire</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The court was told the officer was moving from active duty to be considered for medical discharge at the time of the robbery.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The once ambitious detective's mental state had deteriorated by 2021 after his work exposed him to traumatic incidents like homicides, child sex abuse, sexual assaults and fatal car crashes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In late 2023, a probationary constable twice recklessly pointed her firearm at him at work.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Judge Newlinds accepted the officer had an underlying mental health condition, was previously of good character and had shown some remorse.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, he found the link between post-traumatic stress disorder and the crime was "tenuous".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The officer will be eligible for parole in June 2031.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Support is available by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636.</span></strong></div></div>