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A former police officer who preyed on vulnerable victims he met through work for sex attempted to use a letter from the Queensland government as a good character reference in court.
The department of housing confirmed to this masthead it had written to Andrew Craig Adams, 53, about his work in the homelessness and housing sector in North Queensland.
But it was unaware the letter would be used for any other purpose, particularly by the man’s defence barrister after pleading guilty to four counts of misconduct in public office in Victoria.
“Any correspondence to the complainant in his capacity as a representative of a CHP (community housing provider) was not intended for any other purpose, and the department was not aware that it was being used in court proceedings,” a department spokeswoman told this masthead on Wednesday.
In a County Court hearing in Geelong on Tuesday, Judge Gerard Mullaly was scathing when learning Adams attempted to use a letter from the Queensland government as a character reference, without notifying the author it would be used in court.
“Does the Queensland Department of Housing and … Queensland government know that a letter provided by a chief procuring officer is being utilised by Mr Adams, in his plea in Victoria for misconduct in public office with attributes of sexual intent?” Mullaly asked.
“The answer I think is no,” Adams’ barrister Barnaby Johnston replied.
The defence barrister claimed the letter demonstrated the contribution Adams had made in community, but Mullaly was furious.
“You contact [Queensland department employee] and tell him you want to use the letter ... a formal letter from the department,” the judge said.
Following this interaction, Johnston sought for the defence to withdraw the letter.
Tuesday’s hearing had heard that, Adams, a former Victorian police officer who now lives in Townsville, attempted to engage in romantic, and later sexual conduct, with female victims who had come to his attention as a senior constable during family violence reports between September 2020 and April 2021.
A police investigation found Adams had used the police’s computer system initially and then later his personal mobile to contact four women, asking them if they wanted to have coffee.
While first offering to be a supportive person in their lives, he later went to their homes, or met them in secluded areas including carparks, in what the prosecution said was an attempt to have sex with them.
Adams told one of the women who attended the police station to report an intervention order breach that if he’d seen her at a nightclub, he’d buy her a drink, while taking a report from her in a private room.
He later showed up at her house on multiple occasions while on and off-duty, sometimes with a junior colleague who remained in the police car while they spoke.
Adams gave gifts including chocolates to another woman he met when responding to a family violence Triple Zero call, and later received oral sex.
One of the women told the judge that Adams abused her trust and groomed her.
“You abused your power. You were entrusted to protect the community, not abuse it. You do not get to minimise this,” she said.
“The harm caused by Andrew Adams is ongoing, it’s not something I’ll ever recover from completely.”
Adams was arrested in a park between Geelong and Melbourne in 2021 after making arrangements to have sex with one woman in her car.
He then moved to North Queensland in 2023, where he works full-time for the community outreach arm of the church, Northreach Baptist Church Townsville.
The defence said Adams’ contribution to the community included securing a significant grant for public housing and managing the distribution of Christmas hampers.
Johnston submitted that if Adams was sentenced to serve a community corrections order, it should be transferred to Queensland so he can continue to live and work in Townsville.
As part of his role, Adams had agreed he would not be left alone with people seeking rental homes.
Mullaly said the offending was persistent and only stopped when Adams was caught red-handed by police in the park in 2023.
The maximum penalty for each charge is 10 years’ jail.
