A 52-year-old Mayo man who founded a youth club and groomed a 16-year-old boy before engaging in sexual acts with him at his home has been given a two-and-a-half year prison sentence.
Patrick Lynn of Greenhills Estate, Ballina, admitted two charges of defilement of a child under the age of 17 between 30 May, 2014 and 6 June, 2014 at locations in a Co Mayo town and a west Sligo location.
At a sitting of the Circuit court in Mullingar today, Judge Keenan Johnson said Mr Lynn, who previously founded a youth club some years prior to the offences, was guilty of a grievous breach of trust and some form of custodial sentence would have to be imposed.
He said the offences were in the mid to upper range and he had a four-year headline prison sentence in mind, but would suspend one year and six months of the sentence for a ten-year period because of mitigating factors.
When the case came before the Circuit court in Sligo in 2018, Garda Mary Tighe told the court that the victim had just finished Transition Year in 2014 and had spent some time on work experience in a shop in the west Sligo location.
Lynn also worked in a nearby business and would give the victim left over cakes and buns whenever the victim was alone.
Lynn approached the victim one day and asked him to go to his house for a coffee. The victim declined and went home, but on his way home he noticed a Facebook message from Lynn. Lynn allegedly mentioned seeing them in the shop and the victim said it was "innocent enough".
Lynn came into the shop again, this time he did not invite him to his home but asked what age he was. The victim said he was 16-years-old.
Lynn continued to message the boy through Facebook and asked for his mobile number. His questions became suggestive in nature and the boy became "uncomfortable".
Lynn then asked the boy to meet him, which he agreed to do "because he wanted it to stop".
He picked the boy up in his car, which had air freshener and rosary beads hanging from the rear view mirror. They travelled to Lynn's family home, where the single bachelor lived with his elderly parents.
Lynn told the boy to go upstairs to his room where he pulled down the boy's trousers and engaged in a sex act. On the second occasion, Lynn drove the boy to a coastal location and engaged in a sex act with him in his car.
The court that the victim told Lynn he would not be meeting him again after that and ignored all messages from him from then on, blocking him on Facebook.
The victim said Lynn never threatened him but "he knew that I was uncomfortable and upset and he knew I was 16 years".
The offence only came to light when the victim's mother had to borrow his laptop and the Facebook messages from Lynn popped up.
She felt the messages were "sexual" in nature and showed them to her oldest daughter who she then asked to monitor Facebook. The mother said when she brought it up with her son he would not answer.
The victim's sister was very concerned on viewing the messages which she said were "suggestive" and felt "it was obvious something was going on".
Arrangements were made for the victim to go into the local Garda Station and make a formal complaint against Lynn.
The court heard that when Lynn was asked if he knew why he was later arrested, he said "yes".
He worked stacking shelves and confirmed he knew the victim and would have served him at the till.
Lynn told investigating gardaí that the boy would come up to him and told him he was gay - "he came on to me," he is alleged to have told detectives.
Lynn admitted to gardaí that he had "actively gone looking for him on Facebook".
All of the Facebook contacts by Lynn came through a Youth Club Facebook page for a local Youth Club which Lynn had founded some years previously. That Facebook page has since been deleted.
After passing sentence, Judge Keenan Johnson adjourned the case until 1 December to give an opportunity to the convicted man to put arrangements in place for his elderly mother who he is caring for.
