Las Vegas officer arrested on suspicion of lewdness with a child

Matthew James Terry, 27, was arrested and booked into the Henderson Detention Center on Tuesday, jail records show. He faces charges of three counts of lewdness by a person over 18 with a child under 14, two counts of attempted lewdness by a person over 18 with a child under 14, six counts of child abuse or neglect, and one count of luring a child or mentally ill person with harmful computer material, Henderson police announced Wednesday.

Terry is a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, Henderson police said. He has been employed with Metro since February 2014, and is assigned to the community policing division’s northwest area command, Metro spokesman Larry Hadfield said Wednesday.

Terry is on paid leave until the Henderson Justice Court accepts the charges, Hadfield said. When that happens, the officer will be relieved of duty without pay, Hadfield said.

Henderson police first received information on May 2 about the allegations of lewdness with a child under 14. Terry was arrested Tuesday without incident, and a search warrant was served at his home, police said.

The department declined to release further information about Terry’s arrest, citing the open investigation.

According to Las Vegas Review-Journal records, Terry was involved in a police shooting in May 2017. Terry, who was 25 at the time, shot and killed an ax-wielding man with a history of mental illness and violent tendencies, police said at the time.

Two officers had used beanbag rounds on the man to no effect when Terry fired 13 rounds at the suspect, striking him nine times.

Anyone with information about the child lewdness case can contact Henderson police at 702-267-4750, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.