Greenfield officer accused of offering money for sex

A Greenfield police officer already on suspension following accusations of offering fellow officers a $200 steak dinner to pull over and ticket his ex-wife now faces a new charge — that he tried to pay two women to have sex with him and a friend.

A formal felony charge of promoting prostitution was filed Wednesday against Lt. Terry Austin, 42.

As of noon today, the officer had not yet been arrested on the latest charge.

The charging document contains a transcript of text messages that Austin purportedly traded with three others: a "buddy" from Florida and two women.

The text messages were collected by a Greenfield police officer conducting an internal investigation stemming from Austin's initial arrest on bribery and misconduct charges. That case is pending in Hancock Circuit Court.

The officer forwarded the texts to an Indiana State Police detective, according to the charging document.

The Florida friend on Jan. 13 inquires of Austin: "You got any booty calls for me or what?"

Austin replies: "I'm workn (sic) on it!!"

A minute later, the documents said, Austin texts a woman with this proposition: "My buddy's got 200.00 will you (have sex with) him??"

The Florida friend is an officer with the Port St. Lucie Police Department, according to the court document. Police found no evidence the friend knew Austin was offering money to entice the women into sex, according to the document.

When the first woman initially resists the idea of sex for money, Austin reaches out to a second woman, whom he offers $100 to have sex with him and another $100 to have sex with the friend, the document said.

Although Austin eventually appears to reach a deal, the woman involved told police the plan was never carried out. She said she had met Austin through an online dating site.

Before his recent troubles, Austin had a good record as a police officer, said Maj. Derek Towle of the Greenfield Police Department.

"I've worked with Terry for probably 23 years, from the time he was a reserve," Towle said. "It's all very surprising."

Austin has been a full-time officer 18 years.

Police are not immune from the same temptations facing others, Towle said.

"I'm just hoping everyday that nobody gets in trouble," he said. "But some guys use bad judgment, and there are consequences to that bad judgment. ... He will have his day in court."

In February, Austin allegedly made offers of a $200 steak dinner to three other police officers — two from McCordsville and one from Fortville — if they would pull over and ticket his ex-wife, whom he had learned was driving with a suspended license, documents said.

According to court documents, a text to the Fortville officer reads: "200.00 Ruth Chris !!!!! First one to nail her!!!!"

When other Greenfield officers learned of the alleged bribery attempts, they contacted the State Police, according to the documents.

In the earlier case, Austin was arrested April 4 on charges of bribery and official misconduct.

Call Star reporter Bill McCleery at (317) 444-6083. Follow him on Twitter: @BillMcCleery01.