Personal trainer with large social media following secretly filmed 35 topless women getting massages
by Tom Tuite · Irish MirrorA personal trainer, convicted of a "predatory" sexual assault on a woman who sought treatment for chronic back problems, secretly filmed 35 other women topless as he gave them massages at his gym, it emerged on Friday.
Shane Flynn, 35, who owns and runs NGS Gym & Rehabilitation Clinic, now known as Recode in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and has a large social media following, will be sentenced later. He was remanded on bail, with "stringent" conditions, by Judge Ronan Munro, who said there were "predatory aspect to the crimes committed".
Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court heard on Friday that 18 hours of video footage on Flynn's laptop showed him making suggestive remarks to women 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 2018. The case will be listed in December to set his sentence hearing date.
Following a six-day trial, 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.
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 woman booked time off work and got a letter to travel to Mullingar in compliance with the Covid-19 travel regulations at that time.
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 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 after leaving his gym.
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.
But, on Wednesday, the jury unanimously found him guilty. On Friday, the judge said the media could now identify Flynn. The woman did not attend the hearing on Friday, but her moving victim impact statement was read into the court record.
She 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 in my life. 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 whole 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 both 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."
On Friday, Divisional Protective Services Unit Detective Sergeant Niall Smyth outlined 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 court heard Flynn had no previous convictions and employed 14 staff at his gym, where, as a condition of bail, he must be "chaperone" while working, and he must surrender his passport by Saturday afternoon.
Judge Munro noted the defence needed time to prepare a mitigation plea, and he also sought a pre-sentence probation report on the accused. Flynn spoke only to confirm he would hand over his passport and understood the bail terms, including an order for no one-on-one contact with any female 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.
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