A personal trainer with a significant social media following secretly filmed dozens of women topless as he gave them massages at his gym.
Shane Flynn, 35, who owns and runs Recode Gym in Mullingar, County Westmeath, was convicted on Friday of a “predatory” sexual assault on a woman who sought treatment with the fitness professional for chronic back pain.
Flynn, who regularly posts popular content to his 34,000 Instagram followers, was remanded on bail with “stringent” conditions, to be sentenced at a later date.
The Westmeath Examiner reports how Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court heard that there was a “predatory aspect to the crimes committed.” The court also heard how 18 hours of video footage had been found on Flynn’s laptop showing him making “suggestive remarks to women and massaging their breasts.”
Judge Ronan Munro noted that the footage was not shared or distributed, and that it “did not feature any non-consensual behaviour.”
While Flynn denied secually assaulting a woman in January 2021, he admitted a second charge for offensive conduct of a sexual nature by making covert digital recordings of women without their knowledge or consent at his gym, dating from July 2018 to August 2018.
A jury convicted Flynn of the sexual assault on the woman after she attended an appointment at his gym, formerly called NGS (Next Gen Speed). The woman told the jury, made up of nine men and three women, how she had suffered an injury from playing sports and had sought help for long-term scoliosis as well as back pain after hearing about Flynn.
During the trial which spanned six days, jurors heard how during massage therapy, Flynn asked the victim – then in her mid-20s – to remove her bra and shorts, walking in on her while she was still in the process of removing the clothing. She alleged during the trial that when she removed her shorts, Flynn told her that “he would have taken them off me quicker.”
The trial heard how Flynn, who was not a qualified physiotherapist but had completed other courses and had qualifications in neuromuscular therapy, told her during the massage that she was “making him hard” and asked if she wanted a “happy ending” massage, the Westmeath Examiner reports. She said that he made a number of inappropriate comments and touched her breasts and pubic area, asking her “it it was his turn.”
She said that she was terrified, and that the treatment was “absolutely not” like the groin injury treatment she had received previously, adding that she had no control over the situation as she lay there undressed.
The local Westmeath-based paper notes that the woman said she received a message on Instagram within two hours of the incident, which read: “Testosterone went through the roof; I didn’t expect that.” The message was screenshotted and used in court.
Flynn told gardaí that he had to “shoot her down” and that the woman had gotten the wrong idea, and had “crossed the line” during the massage.” However, he was found unanimously guilty.
The court heard additional evidence about the recordings, and that when Flynn was questioned about the assault and denied the allegations, he gave a separate statement admitting he had used his laptop to record women.
He claimed he had been going through a “rough patch” with his girlfriend at the time in 2018, and had recorded massages on female clients 10 or 12 times. The court heard that 37 women were captured in total, 35 of whom had their breasts exposed on camera, with Flynn being seen moving the laptop to ensure that the women were exposed in view of the camera.
The court heard how some clients were “reluctant” to undress, and asked if they could out their clothes back on. One woman was told by Flynn that she looked “unreal.”
In a victim impact statement reported by the Westmeath Examiner, the woman said that she “completely lost her spark” following the incident, with the ordeal causing her to take time off work.
“After this happened to me, I completely lost my spark and became increasingly anxious,” she said. “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.”
The victim said that she had “never really experienced anxiety before” the assault took place, but described experiencing “crippling” anxiety, adding: “I found myself over-thinking what I was wearing, how I was presented, wondering if I was too friendly towards people – all 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.”
The victim impact statement continued: “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 I am not. Shane Flynn tried to lie abut the entire assault and portray me as the person who was wrong, the person who ‘crossed the line’ when in fact, it was him.”
She described it as being “the most vulnerable position I have ever been in in my life,” adding: “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.”
Flynn, who employs 14 staff at his gym, will be sentenced at a later date.