TUSLA REVIEWING HOW CHILD PORN OFFENDER KEPT RUGBY CLUB POST
THE head of Tusla has launched a review into how a man convicted of having child pornography continued to work at a rugby club where many juvenile players were members, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
The review comes despite parents at Ballincollig Rugby Club being told late last year that Tusla was ‘satisfied the CSS [Child Safeguarding Statement] provided’ by the club was ‘compliant with the requirements of the Children’s First Act 2015’.
However, Tusla chief Kate Duggan has now ordered the review after the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth urged the Child and Family Agency to ‘fully investigate’ the matter after it was first
‘Gardaí and Tusla have dragged their heels’
‘I never touched... I never went near any players’
reported in the MoS last year.
The MoS reported how a man convicted of having hundreds of child pornography images continued to work at the rugby club for months after pleading guilty.
Gavin O’Flynn, 38, was charged with possessing images of child pornography 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 18-month 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 then went back to work at the bar from March to June last year.
Ms Duggan has now demanded answers.
In an email seen by the MoS she said Dr Anthony O’Leary, director of quality and regulation in Tusla, is ‘leading on the review of this matter in the agency’.
A concerned parent at the club later received an email from Tusla saying a ‘chief social worker’ would be in contact.
The parent told how he was previously advised on two investigations by Tusla when the rugby club found ‘everything was in order’.
The parent told the MoS: ‘I am dismayed by the fact that an individual who was arrested in April 2021 and who pleaded guilty in court in October 2022 to possession of child pornography remained in employment at Ballincollig RFC, without the knowledge of parents.
‘What is further alarming; despite the fact that there are legal obligations required of various stakeholders, under the Sex
Offenders Act 2001, the Children’s First Act 2015 and the Criminal Justice Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children & Vulnerable Persons Act 2012 – both An Garda Síochána and Tusla have been dragging their heels throughout this ordeal, since it has first entered the public domain in October 2023 via The Irish Mail on Sunday.’
The parent told how O’Flynn had access to images of children who were under the protection and supervision of Ballincollig RFC club officers and said parents and their children at the club had been ‘failed’.
They said: ‘The legal process has failed the parents of the vulnerable children who were exposed to this individual that remained an employee of Ballincollig RFC throughout the period where he was first arrested in April 2021, pleaded guilty in court in October 2022 and up until his sentencing in June 2023.’
The parent also questioned why an investigation into the matter has not been conducted by IRFU child welfare officials.
The Tusla review comes as O’Flynn, who is currently on a suspended prison sentence, has been travelling the UK and Europe since his conviction. In January, he posted a picture on social media with his ‘absolute comedy hero’ – actor and comedian Jim Davidson – in Blackpool. Last November, he told how he enjoyed a week away in Spain. The same month he enjoyed a trip to Manchester. It is understood Ballincollig RFC was unaware O’Flynn had pleaded guilty to possessing the images for the duration of the time he was working there. The club told concerned parents that vetting had been ‘diligently’ followed at all times.
When contacted, O’Flynn told the MoS he ‘never touched’ or ‘went near’ any of the juvenile players.
He initially claimed we had the ‘wrong person’ before admitting he had pleaded guilty to possessing the disturbing images. He later claimed his life had ‘fallen apart’ since the conviction.
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’d 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 that parents 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 possession [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.’
He also questioned how this newspaper knew he had pleaded guilty, saying: ‘There was no one in that courtroom. What about data protection? I do understand why [parents would be concerned] and I tried my best to stay as far away as I could. It wasn’t like I was showing up at underage training.’