Former golf coach Sean Patrick Lynch faces new charges tied to victim of previous conviction

A former elite golf coach turned convicted child sex offender has been hit with fresh criminal charges.

One-time golf coach Sean Patrick Lynch. :

A former elite golf coach turned convicted child sex offender has been hit with fresh criminal charges relating to the same junior golf prodigy he was found guilty of molesting.

But Brisbane man Sean Patrick Lynch, who mentored the likes of former world No. 1 Jason Day, is claiming an “abuse of process” after being charged by NSW police over the same matters for which he was convicted and jailed in Queensland.

Lynch, 71, was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child after handing himself in to Tweed Heads police this week following a year-long investigation by NSW detectives.

He appeared in Tweeds Heads Local Court on Thursday charged with the offences that allegedly occurred in northern NSW in 2019.

Lynch was sentenced to three years’ jail in Brisbane District Court in September 2022 after being found guilty of seven counts of indecent treatment and grooming of a child under 16 following a 10-day trial. He had pleaded not guilty to a total of 11 charges.

The district court was told Lynch began grooming the girl, a golf prodigy with an “extraordinary talent’, before engaging in multiple sexual acts with her in 2018 and 2019 in both Queensland and NSW.

Sean Patrick Lynch has mentored the likes of former world no. 1 Jason Day.

The girl told the court in a victim impact statement that “before meeting Sean I loved golf and was on top of the world” but no longer play any sport “and rarely do anything”.

The court heard that Lynch had been “a pillar in the golf community”.

In documents tendered to Tweed Heads court, lawyers for Lynch said they sent an “abuse of process” submission to NSW police after learning last May that NSW police had launched a new investigation into the matter.

The lawyers said the investigation related to the same allegations that were led at Lynch’s Queensland trial.

However, NSW detectives decided to charge him and he surrendered to Tweed Heads police on Thursday.

In a successful bail application, lawyers for Lynch argued that the case was “most unusual” as the allegations against him were similar to those relied on by Queensland prosecutors.

“For reasons known to the Queensland authorities, Mr Lynch was charged only with offences alleged to have occurred in Queensland … not withstanding the clear nexus with the allegations now before this court,” defence barrister Ben Cochrane said in a bail submission.

“The NSW allegations were fully litigated in the Queensland trial, with the complainant and crown witnesses present. Mr Lynch himself gave evidence.”

Mr Cochrane said Lynch had “effectively been forced to surrender his right to silence” in answering the NSW charges and there was “a real prospect that (he) will seek to litigate that issue as an abuse of process”.

Lynch’s lawyers said he returned to the family home in Banyo after being released from jail but went to live with his brother in Emerald after he and his wife “amicably” separated last June due to the “stress and strain” of his criminal proceedings.

Lynch was granted bail on the NSW charges after his sister posted a $10,000 surety.

His bail conditions stipulate he must live with another brother in Shepparton, Victoria, report weekly to police, not apply for his Irish passport or have any contact with children unless in the company of another adult.

In an a statement to the court, his brother described Lynch as a “kind and devoted family man” who he would “wholeheartedly support” throughout the fresh legal battle.