Christchurch detective investigated after having intimate relationship with rape complainant

Christchurch detective Luke Fazackerley is accused of having an intimate relationship with a woman he met when she reported being raped to police.

• The Queensland Police Service withdrew a Christchurch detective’s job offer while allegations he began a sexual relationship with a rape complainant whose case he had managed were investigated.
• New Zealand Police confirmed an employment process was completed. Police say his current role does not have a primary function of investigating adult sexual assault.
• The young woman believes the man should not have access to survivors.

Warning: this story deals with sexual assault and may be distressing.

Twenty-four-year-old rape complainant Kelly* met detective Luke Fazackerley in a police station interview room.

He was eight years older, a foot taller and the man tasked with investigating the complaint she was there to make.

“I literally had to say [the rapist] put his penis in my vagina, that was the nature of the conversation, and this was in front of three men.”

Kelly, then 22, says a relationship between her and the detective began with a simple message: a text from him on November 15, 2023, sharing her investigation file number.

“He would also ring me to ask questions sometimes and it was during those phone calls that he would ask me the question, and one of which was, do I have a partner? and I was like, ‘Is it relevant?’”

At the time, she said he was almost a “hero” to her.

“Wanting to protect me, saying how awful these people are, how they take advantage of people. Funnily enough.”

He was “gentle and nurturing” and there for her at a time when she said none of her family members lived in Aotearoa or knew what she was going through.

“To have this person to speak to and this person that I thought understood what I had gone through and cared about me. Yeah, it was so nice and I think I did like Luke very early on because of those really long conversations and the fact that he was there for me.”

Kelly felt their dynamic shifted further after he texted her in the small hours of New Year’s Day.

“I knew that what was happening wasn’t normal and that would never happen with another detective, but it was nice.

“I wasn’t going to stop it.”

The Herald has seen a screenshot of this message, appearing to be sent by the detective to her at 1.18am on New Year’s Day.

‘I’ll get fired’

She can’t recall who said it first, but in early 2024 Kelly said the pair expressed that they had feelings for each other.

“He was kind of like, ‘Oh, you know, that’s a like really big breach of our conduct’. He was like, ‘I’ll get fired’. He sent me a diagram from their code of conduct with what’s appropriate, and it’s like, ‘If you’ve ever investigated or ever been a detective for any victim, even in the past, even if you’re not the detective anymore, if it was years ago, you’re not supposed to [enter into a relationship]’.”

A lot of the boundaries he listed, she alleged, had already been crossed.

“He was like, ‘We can’t talk on my work phone anymore’. So then he sent me his TikTok handle.”

After they moved to speaking on TikTok, she said their conversations became “quite flirty”.

Detective Luke Fazackerley's job offer with the Queensland Police Service has been withdrawn while an investigation occurs.

It was there that she claimed he came up with a plan to get him taken off her file.

She alleged he encouraged her to act overly interested in him, like a “stalker”, so he would get taken off her case.

“He’s like, ‘Text this to my work phone now, and then I’ll reply back something really formal, and then tomorrow I’ll show it to my boss and I’ll get removed from your file’.

“I just went along with it because it was the only way that I was gonna be able to keep talking to him, or that was what I had thought.”

Now, she fears this may have impacted how other detectives saw her.

“I didn’t think about that at the time ... the crazy messages, it will be recorded, I did that.

“It’s like it’s from a freaking movie. It’s actually unbelievable, it’s dangerous. I just feel f***ing like an idiot.”

As soon as he was removed from her case, she alleged they met up to have sex.

“Most of the relationship, I would just go to his house because he couldn’t be seen with me in public, he didn’t want to bump into any colleagues or anything and them recognise me.”

In the beginning, things between them were good.

“He has this really nice side that’s really nurturing and loving, and then he just flips. So then after our fights, he would treat me really well. He would get me flowers and be really kind to me, take me to nice places, buy things for me. So it was either really good or really bad and it’s easy to hang on to the good stuff.”

She described the relationship as emotional and punctuated by arguments, break-ups and reconciliations.

‘It was all my fault’

As her rape case progressed with a new detective, Kelly said she disclosed to a police manager that she was having a relationship with Fazackerley.

“I said that it was all my fault. I had pressured Luke, I was the one that instigated everything.

“She said, ‘Do you want Luke to get in trouble?’ And I was begging her, ‘Please, no, don’t tell him that I even told you, please’. I was scared of what his reaction would be. And she said that she would do her best to keep it quiet.”

Following this, Kelly said Fazackerley told her he was pulled into a meeting and informed he could lose his job.

“He was very angry at me and he said, ‘If they call you again, you have to tell them it was your fault’.”

Kelly said she did what he wanted because she didn’t want the relationship to end.

After a while, she said the issue went away.

“I was relieved that Luke wasn’t gonna get fired because of it and blow up at me and blame me. But now I look back and remembering their misconduct table, he should have been fired immediately. I’m so confused how they could be told one of their detectives, an adult sexual assault detective investigating a young woman’s rape case, is now in a sexual relationship with them. How they let him continue to work in that area or work at all. It was just very much like they wanted it to disappear.

“That in a way told me maybe it is okay.”

After their final break-up earlier this year, Kelly claimed she turned up at his house because she wanted to talk to him and she said he wasn’t home so she waited.

She said Fazackerly never returned; and instead, police issued her with a temporary safety order barring her from contacting him.

“He’s the one that took advantage of me and then somehow he needs protection from me,” she claimed.

“He’s got this ultimate control over me as a police officer to go and get the safety order and put it against me.”

Kelly felt their relationship had conditioned her to act in a mentally unhealthy way, vying for his attention.

“Now ... at the end of the relationship, I’m this crazy girlfriend that followed him.”

Relationship reported to authorities

After the break-up, she was at rock bottom and having thoughts of ending her life.

“I hadn’t eaten or slept in days, and I confided in one of my friends, and she said get your ass to the doctor right now and so I drove to my GP and I said, ‘This is how I’m feeling, I’m gonna hurt myself’ and they sent me to ED [emergency department] immediately.

“I genuinely felt like I didn’t want to be here anymore.”

It was while she received mental health support for this that she said doctors encouraged her to report the relationship.

Since getting help, Kelly believes no one in a position of power like his should even consider entering into a relationship with a sexual violence survivor they have worked with.

“It shouldn’t even be an option, it shouldn’t even be a thought and it’s dangerous and I don’t believe that he wouldn’t do this again, or hasn’t done it in the past.”

She reported his conduct to New Zealand Police, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) and the Queensland Police Service, with whom Fazackerley was due to start working for later this year.

However, the Queensland Police Service told the Herald due to a recently identified “integrity related” matter, his job offer had been withdrawn “while the matter is under investigation”.

“The applicant will not be further considered for a police recruit position until the matter has been resolved, or it has been established that the outstanding matter will not adversely impact on their suitability.”

Kelly said Fazackerley could potentially work with other sexual violence victims in Australia, and she hoped his offer remained withdrawn.

“I feel like they’re taking it much more seriously than New Zealand, which is really disappointing.”

When later asked whether the investigation was still active, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) said it could not comment further due to “privacy considerations”.

“The QPS is committed to selecting people who display the attributes of integrity, fairness, equity, professionalism and accountability.

“People applying to be appointed as a police recruit must meet very high standards of past behaviour and conduct and will be assessed against the Recruiting Integrity Guidelines."

Police ‘employment process’ completed after conflict of interest

Back home, Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill confirmed an internal employment process was completed after a conflict of interest was identified.

He said police could not provide further comment but confirmed the code of conduct rules had been addressed with the detective.

The New Zealand Police code of conduct states staff must not enter into a sexual or intimate relationship with someone they met in a professional capacity, if an imbalance of power exists or if that person is vulnerable.

IPCA resolutions manager Cath Anyan said the authority did not comment publicly on cases unless or until it published a public report or website summary at the end of an investigation.

A letter from the IPCA to Kelly said police told the authority it had already addressed the matter by way of an employment process.

“The authority considers this an appropriate response to your complaint and will not take any further action.”

Looking back on her earlier conversations with police about the relationship, Kelly believes she was failed.

“It was handled so poorly, and that’s by the police, the people that are supposed to help.”

She worries about other rape survivors who may find Fazackerley on the other side of the police interview table.

“It really scares me to think of another woman in my position.”

*Kelly’s name has been changed to protect her identity

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.

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