Personal trainer jailed for two years and four months

Tom Tuite

A Mullingar gym owner has been jailed for two years and four months after he sexually assaulted a woman seeking treatment for chronic back problems and for secretly filming dozens of other women topless as he gave them massages.

Personal trainer Shane Flynn, 35, who owned and ran the NGS Gym and Rehabilitation Clinic, renamed last year as Recode, begged not to be imprisoned.

Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court heard that 18 hours of video footage on Flynn’s laptop showed him making suggestive remarks to women, aged from 18 to their mid-50s, and massaging their breasts.

Gardaí could not identify the women in the videos, which did not feature any non-consensual behaviour, and Judge Munro noted that they were not shared or distributed. Flynn, with an address at Dalystown, Mullingar, denied sexually assaulting a woman in January 2021 but had admitted a second charge for offensive conduct of a sexual nature by making covert digital recordings of females without their knowledge or consent at his gym from July 2018 until August 2020.

Following a six-day trial in October, a jury of nine men and three women convicted him of sexually assaulting the woman after she went to an appointment at his gym named NGS (Next Gen Speed) at Westside House in Mullingar.

Yesterday, Monday, Judge Ronan Munro said Flynn was skilled at providing treatment but had debased his talents to “systematically” exploit the women who came for help.

The judge praised the steadfastness of the woman the defendant had assaulted and said she had exposed him as a sex offender, and by coming forward, she had made the world a safer place for women.

The new father, whose business built up over a decade was in ruins, brought €5,000 to court.

The complainant could not attend the sentencing hearing, but her parents attended the proceedings and watched from the public gallery.

Post-release, Shane Flynn must remain under probation supervision for one year and complete a sexual offending treatment programme.

The judge noted past clients from around the country, including two people with Parkinson’s Disease, had come to court to say how they had helped them.

The court heard he once had 14 staff, but the judge said his business had “crumbled to dust”, and he noted that it had been dissolved.

The full sentence for the sexual assault was three years with 16 months suspended on the condition he keep the peace for 12 months, remain on probation supervision and pay over the money to the victim. Her parents advised the court that their daughter wanted the money to go to a charity that assists survivors of sexual assault.

That term will run consecutively to a further eight months’ imprisonment imposed for the secret recordings.

Flynn, who, until his conviction, was about to introduce his “unique” treatments to the United States, spoke only to say “yes” when he signed his bond.

However, he told the court via his barrister, Shane Geraghty, that he now unequivocally accepted the verdict that he had sexually assaulted the complainant.

In a letter to the judge, he expressed his remorse and said: “I am begging you, judge, for a second chance and an opportunity to be the best father I can possibly be.”

The judge also noted the gravity of the offending but also mitigating factors, including media coverage and threats to Flynn and his family that followed his trial. However, Judge Munro said his exploitation of the woman’s vulnerability was particularly insidious.

The court heard he had recently been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and was attending a psychotherapist for two years. A probation report had also found him to be at medium risk of sexual re-offending, and he continually denied getting gratification from the recordings.

His partner of 11 years gave a testimonial and said that she was “100 per cent” standing by him.

Judge Munro said there was a “predatory aspect to the crimes committed”.

During the trial, jurors were unaware that he had admitted to the charge of secretly recording the other women.

In evidence, the woman told the jury that she played sports and had got help for her long-term scoliosis and severe back pain.

She had done generic programmes but wanted expert treatment and heard about Flynn. First, she did online consultations with him before going to his gym a few weeks later.

The court heard Flynn was not a qualified physiotherapist but had completed other courses and obtained qualifications in neuromuscular therapy and as a strengthening and conditioning coach.

Jurors heard that during massage therapy, Flynn asked if the victim, who was then in her mid-20s, to remove her bra and shorts, and walked back in on her as she was taking still them off. She alleged he told her that when she had removed her shorts, he said: “he would have taken them off me quicker”.

The trial heard that during the massage, he told the woman she was making him hard. Flynn asked if she wanted a “happy ending” massage, made a series of inappropriate comments and touched her breasts, vagina, pubic area and buttocks, leaving her terrified, before asking if it was his turn.

She testified that it was “absolutely not” similar to groin injury treatment she received previously, and she had no control of the situation lying there with no clothes other than a thong.

The woman alleged the accused told her that he would finish her off in 30 seconds with just his hands. “When I said no, he said, ‘You wouldn’t be saying that if I had my clothes off’,” she alleged.

The court heard she received a message from him via Instagram two hours after leaving the gym. The complainant said it read: “Testosterone went through the roof; I didn’t expect that.”

It also had a monkey covering its eyes emoji, and she took a screenshot picture, which was tendered to court as an exhibit. She told a friend and a sister who thought she was distraught and flustered immediately afterwards.

Flynn did not testify in court, but in the account he gave gardaí, he claimed he had not touched her vagina or breasts and accused the injured party of being “wild” or “gamy”. He claimed he had to “shoot her down” when she got the wrong idea and “crossed the line” during the massage.

In a moving victim impact statement read earlier, the complainant had said: “After this happened to me, I completely lost my spark and became increasingly anxious. I had to take time off from my job as I processed what I had been through and availed of counselling supports offered by my employer during my absence. I never really experienced anxiety before this happened to me, not crippling anxiety anyway. I found myself overthinking what I was wearing, how I presented, wondering if I was too friendly towards people – all of the things I asked myself when I wondered why this happened to me. Was it something I did? or wore? Or my hair? But it wasn’t; I did nothing wrong. I started to lose part of myself, and my mental health worsened.”

She opened up about how it impacted how she sought further help for her back problems, and going for cervical screening became difficult. “This week, I had to face the man who did this to me. The man who has significantly impacted my life because I trusted him to provide a professional treatment to help me with my back condition. He entered a ‘not guilty’ plea, when all along he has been guilty. I had to listen to his lies in court and sit there while I was painted as someone who I am not. Shane Flynn tried to lie about the entire assault and portray me as the person who was wrong, the person who ‘crossed the line’, when in fact, it was him.

“It is the most vulnerable position I have ever been in. And I am saddened that I ever blamed myself in any way. I have felt anger, exhaustion, worry and sadness at different stages throughout this case. I was a client seeking treatment and support. I was a paying client. I wanted to improve my fitness and strength to support my scoliosis. Instead, I was sexually assaulted, made feel incredibly uncomfortable physically and verbally and have suffered the impact of this assault in so many ways in my life to this day. All because of the actions of Shane Flynn.”

Divisional Protective Services Unit Detective Sergeant Niall Smyth outlined the additional evidence about the covert recordings.

He told Ed O’Mahony BL, prosecuting, instructed by State solicitor Matt Shaw, that when Flynn was questioned about the sexual assault, he denied that allegation but made an additional statement admitting he had used his laptop to record women.

Flynn claimed he had been going through a “rough patch” with his girlfriend in 2018 and recorded massages 10 or 12 times.

Garda Olivia Kelly prepared a description of the recordings recovered from the hard drive: 18 hours of footage featured 37 women, 35 of whom had their breasts exposed on camera.

In most of the clips, he could be seen moving the client or the laptop to ensure their breasts were exposed and in view of the laptop camera.

Sometimes, the clients went out of sight but were moved back into view.

The court heard that a few women were “reluctant” to get undressed and asked to put their clothes on again.

The footage was not played during the hearing, but the court heard, in one clip, he talked to a woman during a massage about her breasts and told her she was “in some nick” and said they looked “unreal” and commented, “Now, your turn”.

Judge Munro heard he admitted one incident in the evidence was consensual intercourse with a client.

The sexual assault can result in a maximum ten-year sentence imprisonment, while the covert recordings crime can result in a two-year jail term.