Cop quits job despite inquiry clearing him

Matt Pearson has left Waiheke after being accused of inappropriate behaviour. Photo / Herald on Sunday

An Auckland police officer has been cleared of criminal allegations after an investigation into claims of inappropriate behaviour, but he has since resigned and left the small community where he worked.

Constable Matt Pearson was suspended on full pay from the Waiheke Island station in August last year while Auckland CIB investigated allegations made by an 18-year-old woman.

The alleged incident occurred after Mr Pearson and the girl were drinking in a Waiheke bar, but criminal charges were not laid because she refused to make a formal complaint.

Mr Pearson denied any wrongdoing, but the inquiry was passed to the police professional standards squad, which began investigating whether the constable had breached strict code-of-conduct rules.

Police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty confirmed Mr Pearson had resigned in August, before the internal inquiry - separate from the criminal one - was completed.

Mr Pearson and his wife Ann-Marie are British expatriates who have since left Waiheke Island.

He told the Weekend Herald that the couple were the victims of a personal vendetta to drive them from the close-knit community.

Mr Pearson believed the allegations were fuelled by an 18-year-old youth - a friend of the woman who made the allegations - whom he had arrested for drink-driving and driving while suspended.

The youth sent threatening text messages to Mr Pearson after the drink-driving incident, and was later charged with cellphone harassment offences.

He received diversion on those charges and pleaded guilty to the drink-driving offences.

Mr Pearson said he had no problem with the investigating officers, other than the length of time the inquiry took. "They did what they had to do."

But his wife was upset.

"We're extremely bitter at the way the police dealt with it," said Mrs Pearson. "The police refused to investigate the lying, the false allegations. It was a witch hunt.

"I appreciate when a girl screams rape [that it needs to be investigated]. But when it's done maliciously, there's something seriously wrong. It really was a vendetta."

The furore has divided the community. Mrs Pearson said some locals were supportive, but the Weekend Herald also understands police cars on the island were vandalised and officers verbally abused by residents, who called them "rapists".