Suspect in 1982-84 sex crime out on bail
The lawyer for Gerald Lynch says "there is no basis for this allegation at all."
10:03 AM EST on Tuesday, January 13, 2004
BY JENNIFER LEVITZ
Journal Staff Writer
A youth-club director and former East Providence city councilman was
released on bail yesterday, after he was arrested on Friday and charged
with sexually assaulting a teenage boy 20 years ago.
Gerald Lynch, the director of the East Providence Boys & Girls Club, was
released on $50,000 bail with surety, after an arraignment at District
Court, Providence. He was ordered to post $5,000.
Lynch, 59, was arrested by the Pawtucket police, at the Boys & Girls
Club in East Providence. Pawtucket detectives were approached on Jan. 5
by a Pawtucket man who alleged that he was sexually assaulted by Lynch
as a young teenager.
The man, now 34 and married, told the police that the incidents took
place between 1982 and 1984, when he was between the ages of 13 and 15.
He said he worked at Bleis Florist, a Newport Avenue shop formerly owned
by Lynch.
"He said he has been bothered by this for a long time," and decided to
come forward, said Pawtucket Detective Lt. John Clarkson. "It was
extremely hard for him to come forward."
Lynch's lawyer, Leonard O'Brien, yesterday said Lynch is "adamant, and
we are on this, that there is no basis for this allegation at all."
O'Brien said, "at this point, however, after being shocked by the
allegation itself, he's very happy to be back with his family."
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FREED: Gerald Lynch, who spent the weekend at the ACI on a charge of sexually assaulting a teen 20 years ago, is released on bail at his District Court arraignment yesterday.
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Lynch's bail conditions prohibit him from having contact with anyone
under the age of 18.
Lynch asked the East Providence Boys & Girls Club for a leave of
absence. The organization yesterday placed Lynch on a paid leave, said
Christopher Morra, chairman of the board of directors.
Morra said he sent a letter to parents yesterday, outlining the youth
club's safety procedures, such as rules that a child cannot be alone
with a staff member.
The club is East Providence's only youth program run out of a building,
where young people can go for daycare, the computer lab, the "latch-key"
program, and more. The demand for the organization is so great that the
program has had to limit the hours children can visit the clubhouse.
"The club is doing fine and it's unfortunate that someone would make
such an allegation, but everything at the club is continuing on as
usual. The staff is doing a fine job, and the parents have been very
understanding," Morra said.
"It's our job to make sure it remains a positive place throughout this
ordeal," he said.
Morra said Lynch, who served on the East Providence City Council for 15
years before stepping down in 1998, helped save the East Providence Boys
& Girls Club. The club was in deep financial trouble when Lynch took
over seven years ago, he said.
Lynch was formerly the assistant director of the Pawtucket Boys & Girls
Club.
"His shoes are big to fill in the short term," Morra said.
The Pawtucket police said the alleged victim initially called the
attorney general's office. The man was referred to the Rhode Island
Sexual Assault & Trauma Resource Center, a private agency that works
with sexual-assault victims. The agency referred him to Pawtucket
authorities.
The man alleged that he and Lynch performed oral sex on each other.
Pawtucket police had the man call Lynch, and then contacted the attorney
general's office, according to Clarkson.
