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UPDATE: Las Vegas police officer accused of lewdness in court

Matthew Terry.jpg
Posted at 5:02 PM, May 08, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-13 16:58:31-04

UPDATE MAY 13: Matthew Terry, the Las Vegas police officer accused of lewdness with a child, appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom on May 13. The defense counsel acknowledged and waived reading of the complaint. The defendant then invoked the 15-day rule.

A preliminary hearing and bail hearing was scheduled for May 14.

UPDATE 11 P.M.: Two parents who had a son on a team coached by Matthew Terry say they are not surprised by the arrest and charges based on his behavior with young boys.

Natalie Mazzullo says she was the team mom for a flag football team in 2014 and Terry was an assistant coach.

"He had this element of immaturity, so it was kind of out of the ordinary to see a 20-something-year-old-man, who is a police officer, rolling around on the floor with a bunch of boys," said Mazzullo.

Mazzullo says several mothers noticed the behavior and kept their young boys away from Terry.

ORIGINAL STORY:
HENDERSON (KTNV) -- A Las Vegas police officer is under arrest and facing multiple counts of lewdness with a child.

Matthew Terry, 27, was arrested after the Henderson Police Department launched an investigation into allegations he was involved in actions with a child under the age of 14.

RELATED: Las Vegas Breaking News on May 8

Henderson police started the investigation on May 2, and he was taken into custody without incident on May 7, according to authorities.

Terry was an officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at the time of the arrest, but the department said he was relieved of his duties after this incident.

According to a 12-page arrest report detailing the allegations, the reported incidents started with a complaint from Terry's co-workers at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

This came after an employee also reported concerns from Terry's fellow football coaches about inappropriate behavior with boys.

Las Vegas detectives eventually handed the case over to Henderson police after discovering the alleged crimes occurred in the city limits.

Henderson police detailed the allegations from two boys and reported Terry had asked them to shower with him on multiple occasions, touched both of them in ways detectives called "sexually coercive behavior" and asked them to grab him.

The report also notes the officer denied the allegations but admitted the boys had walked in on him in the shower by accident and he had done the same with them as well.

Plus, allegations dating back to 2017 of concerning behavior were included in the report that authorities checked but determined there was nothing that came to a criminal level.

Currently, the 27-year-old is facing three counts of lewdness by a person over 18 with a child under the age of 14, two counts of attempt lewdness by a person over 18 with a child under 14, one count of lure child/mentally ill person with harmful computer material and six counts of child abuse or neglect, according to HPD.

Terry, who has been with the LVMPD since 2014, was also involved in a shooting back in 2017 and was placed on routine administrative leave while that incident was under investigation.

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Henderson police said this remains an ongoing investigation.