Tusla urged to examine rugby club sex offender
Agency told to investigate after ex-barman pleads guilty to having child porn
AN Oireachtas committee has urged Tusla to ‘fully investigate’ how a man convicted of having hundreds of child pornography images continued to work at a rugby club where many juvenile players are members
A concerned parent at the club wrote to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth after the Irish Mail on Sunday reported the details of the case.
The committee told the parent it was not within its remit to investigate the matter, but added that ‘given the serious issues raised’ it requested the Child and Family Agency Tusla investigate the matter ‘fully’.
It also urged Tusla to provide a ‘detailed report’ on the matter to the parent.
Last month the MoS reported how Gavin O’Flynn, 38, was charged with possessing images of child pornography contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 on April 21, 2021.
He pleaded guilty to the charges at Cork Circuit Court on October 24, 2022.
On June 6, 2023, he was sentenced by Judge Helen Boyle to an 18month suspended sentence and entered a bond to keep the peace for the same period.
But despite pleading guilty, O’Flynn, of St Mary’s Avenue, Gurranabraher, Cork, continued to work at Ballincollig Rugby Club from October 2022 until January 2023, when he handed in his notice.
He went back to work at the bar again from March to June of this year.
Parents at the club, which has around 300 youth members, were alerted to O’Flynn’s conviction around the time of his sentencing.
Some of the parents questioned the club as to why he continued to work there after he had pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
One parent expressed concern O’Flynn was working in the clubhouse and children would ‘regularly’ chat to him when buying packets of crisps and soft drinks.
It is understood Ballincollig RFC was unaware O’Flynn had pleaded guilty to possessing the images for the duration of time he was working there. The club also told concerned parents that vetting had been ‘diligently’ followed at all times.
When contacted, O’Flynn said he ‘never touched’ or ‘went near’ any of the juvenile players, and stressed parents should not be concerned. He initially claimed we had the ‘wrong person’ before admitting he pleaded guilty to possessing the disturbing images.
Pressed on why he was denying the conviction, he eventually said: ‘Because I’m ashamed of it, that’s why. It’s not something you want to f***ing admit. I thought I had moved on from this.
‘I never touched .... I never went near any players. I didn’t have anything to do with any of them. To be honest with you, you’re after shocking me, because I thought this had all gone away.’
When it was put to him parents at the club were concerned he was employed at the club after pleading guilty to the charge, he replied: ‘I left, I handed in my notice. I didn’t have these images in my posses-leave, sion [while working there], these images were taken off me long before that. I explained my situation all the way through the courts. These weren’t images I went out to take, these weren’t images I was interested in. I’m not into this stuff, I thought I had deleted them. It was a file, and it came through on an app.
‘It was a f*** up during the pandemic, a major f*** up. I did that job [at the club] because they needed me for that job. I tried to but they couldn’t get anybody. So they asked me. Nobody knew about any of this. Even now I am denying it. I have confirmed it to nobody, and I don’t want to confirm this to anybody. My life has fallen apart because of this.’
Mr O’Flynn was on duty as bar manager in the clubhouse on nights the under 14, 16 and 18 youth nights were held earlier this year.
This has caused particular concern among parents who are calling for the matter to be investigated further.
An informed source said: ‘At the time the committee is saying they didn’t know about this. And he was denying it by the way, he was absolutely denying it is him, [saying] “That’s not me, it’s mistaken identity.” And because it was never reported in the newspaper it has not been seen in black and white, and nobody can prove it was him for this reason.
‘The membership of the rugby club has never been told officially
‘Kids would regularly chat to him in club’
‘Parents are calling for an investigation’
about his conviction, aside from rumour and whispers, which is not right.’
Another source said this week: ‘Let’s see where this request to Tusla gets us now. Parents are very concerned, as you can imagine, and some will not be letting this go.’
When previously contacted in relation to the parents’ concerns, a spokeswoman for the IRFU said it has ‘robust procedures in place regarding the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults and are fully compliant with all legislation in this area’. A spokesperson for Tusla said that, while the agency does not comment on individual cases, ‘we can confirm we are aware of this situation and are liaising with relevant stakeholders, including the Oireachtas Committee on the matter.’