Dubbo coach Shane Glynn jailed for online child sex crimes

A once-respected coach and father who had explicit conversations with a person he thought was a teenage girl has learned his ‘inevitable’ fate after engaging in lewd acts.

A father of two and former junior sports coach in Dubbo has been jailed for online sexual offences, including teaching a teenage girl how to masturbate with fruit and vegetables.

Shane Thomas Glynn, 48, was caught out talking to members of the NSW Police Force’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit, who were posing as a 13-year-old girl in an effort to catch predators online.

In February, Glynn, a former Dubbo BCF manager who was arrested at the store in July 2020, pleaded guilty to one count of using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 for sexual activity and one count of using a carriage service to attempt to engage in sexual activity with a person under 16.

Details of the vile conversations, which occurred 25 times from February to June 2020, were contained in the statement of facts.

The offending occurred when Glynn was on a free social networking website and started a conversation with undercover police known as CEIU41 where “she” was purported to be in a bedroom.

During the conversation Glynn, who moved to Lake Heights after his arrest, was told he was talking to a 13-year-old and when details about connecting on video messaging service Skype were exchanged, he said “will you tell your mum that I have your Skype?”.

After CEIU41 said the details would be kept private unless Glynn wanted them to be disclosed, he said “I don’t think that would be a good idea”, court documents stated.

The conversations moved to Skype and Glynn used the ID “shaneg541” to repeatedly engage in conversations with CEIU41.

At first Glynn said “you a bikini sort of girl” to CEIU41 and asked how school was and if she was home alone.

On February 24, 2020, Glynn said “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to send you a pic of myself because I’m too old for you, I’ll get myself into trouble”.

“Your (sic) a minor … I could be labelled a petofile (sic),” Glynn said before CEIU41 asked what a paedophile was.

“Someone who takes advantage of minors,” Glynn responded.

On March 3, 2020, Glynn asked CEIU41 if she had ever performed fellatio on a male and he said it was “like sucking a lolly pop or an icy pole”.

Glynn later told CEIU41 he wished he was a 15-year-old so he could be closer to her age.

After he sent a photo of his face and CEIU41 sent one back, Glynn said “you are very pretty”.

On April 4, 2020, Glynn told CEIU41 he could go to jail if he engaged in unsuitable talk with her.

“I think you are wonderful cause you seem so grown up for your age,” he said.

“Do me a video dance.” After CEIU41 told Glynn she played truth or dare games with friends online which involved taking clothes off, Glynn said “are you getting changed before lunch … should I watch or not”.

On April 20, 2020, Glynn told CEIU41 he had an erection in the shower while thinking about her and he encouraged her to masturbate.

“You can do it on yourself,” he said.

CEIU41 said “I did not know that … you must think I’m really dumb for 13” in response.

Glynn said “have you put anything in there … finger, carrot, banana, something like that”.

“It’s all about exploring … I can’t tell you should or shouldn’t, it’s up to you,” he said.

Glynn later recorded a video of how to masturbate and the next day he encouraged CEIU41 to practice masturbation.

He sent two shots of his erect penis through his zipper several times.

“Want a banana?” Glynn asked as he sent CEIU41 a photo of a hand holding a banana.

On April 22, 2020, Glynn sent a photo of his erect penis to CEIU41 after a photo of her belly button ring was sent to him.

Glynn told CEIU41 he was deciding whether to keep working or “go and be naughty … go play with myself” on May 13, 2020. After asking CEIU41 if she wanted to watch, Glynn turned on his video camera and focused on his shoes.

CEIU41 said “All I can C is shoes lol … I thought u were gonna show me ur thing”.

Court documents state Glynn moved the camera to show his penis and later was seen masturbating it.

After his arrest at the BCF store on Whylandra St in Dubbo, Glynn initially claimed he thought he was speaking to someone aged in their 60s, but he later acknowledged CEIU41 had disclosed she was a child.

Glynn said it “sounded like she needed a friend … or father figure” and that he was “not proud of this”.

Glynn said he instructed the child to masturbate because he was “trying to help her … with life” and “trying to help her self discover herself”.

On Monday, Dubbo District Court heard Glynn was deeply remorseful and glad that the victim was not a real person so it did not harm a child.

Glowing references from friends including Bob Berry Real Estate agent Karen Chant, whose son worked with Glynn at BCF, were read aloud in court.

Defence barrister Edward Anderson said Glynn was subject to public humiliation, was shunned by family and friends, and had received several death threats, which should reduce the weight for punishment.

He called for leniency, citing the “sharp downturn’’ in his mental health, for which the once person with high-standing had sought rehabilitation.

“The man’s lost his job, friends, his family members who never spoke to him again,’’ he said.

“He’s lost his standing in the community.’’

However, the Crown called for a custodial sentence. Desptie police posing as a girl, the Glynn made plans to meet the ‘teen’.

“The offender established trust with the online identity, encouraged conversations about nude photographs and the end game … was the online sexual activity which ultimately did occur.

“He prioritised his sexual gratification over the interest of the person he believed to be a 13-year-old child and it’s submitted that, particularly in terms of the procuring, it not the lower end.’’

Judge Nanette Williams called Glynn’s actions repulsive, brazen and calculated.

“Moreover the tone of the conversation — a mentoring-type one of a teacher and a guide — in my view made the conversation even the more distasteful,’’ she said.

“I’m also satisfied that the offender very much knew that his conduct was both criminally and morally wrong. Nonetheless he continued in a deliberate and perseverant manner to continue the communication.

“At one stage he tells the online persona that he could get into trouble and go to jail if his offending was found out. Clearly this was a calculated risk on behalf of the offender.’’

She accepted his remorse as genuine but said full time custody was inevitable.

He was imprisoned for two years and 10 months and placed on a two-year good behaviour bond after his jail time ends.

He was given a 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea.

Editor’s Note: The original version of this article included a statement about a character reference provided by Glynn’s uncle Terry Glynn which was inaccurate. The Dubbo News regrets the error and apologises to Mr Glynn for the hurt or embarrassment the publication caused.

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