Professional golf mentor who coached Jason Day is charged with child sex offences after allegedly ‘touching a 13-year-old girl and showing her porn’
- Sean Lynch, 65, charged with six counts of indecent treatment of a child
- Allegedly assaulted teenager six times in 2019 at two addresses in Queensland
- Arrested at his home in Brisbane on Sunday and released on bail on Monday
- He coached several successful pro golfers including mentoring Jason Day
Renowned golf coach Sean Lynch has been charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl six times over the course of a year.
Lynch, who coached Australian 2015 PGA Champion Jason Day, was arrested at his home in Banyo, near Brisbane Airport, on Sunday.
The 65-year-old faced the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday morning charged with six counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16.
Police allege Lynch assaulted the teenager six times in 2019 at three addresses in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, including his former home in Nudgee Beach.
Renowned golf coach Sean Lynch has been charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl six times over the course of a year
Lynch allegedly showed the girl pornography and sexually touched her during these occasions.
His lawyer told the court his client denied all the charges and he and his wife Challie Takis had just been trying to assist the ‘troubled’ girl.
He was released on bail and will next appear in court on January 13.
Lynch has been a golf coach since the 1980s and mentored numerous professional golfers who have tasted international success.
He was a coach on Channel 7 golfing reality TV show The Cut in the early 2000s which saw the emergence of Day.
Lynch was heavily involved in developing and mentoring Day, particularly on the mental side of his game, for years afterwards.
Lynch coached Australian 2015 PGA Champion Jason Day (pictured with the trophy)
Lynch was heavily involved in developing and mentoring Day, particularly on the mental side of his game, for years
He in 2004 said Day was ‘very special’ as the then-24-year-old climbed into the top 10 of golf’s world rankings under his tutelage.
Other golfers taken under his wing include two-time Australian open winner Greg Chalmers, along with regular PGA tour players Marcus Fraser, Jarrod Lyle, Lindsay Wright, and Andre Stoltz.
Lynch was also Australia’s PGA tour director in 1999 to 2005 and now partners with Ian Triggs to run Triggs Lynch Golf coaching in Brisbane.
He and his wife sold their Nudgee Beach home earlier this year to downsize to the two-bedroom $669,000 Banyo pad that backs onto a golf course.