Court docs: Sheriff's Deputy took advantage of woman in distress

An Onondaga County Sheriff's Deputy is facing criminal charges brought forward by a woman whom he was supposed to help. Deputy Brian Lynch is now on unpaid leave from the department.

MORE:Onondaga County Sheriff's deputy arrested for criminal mischief, suspended

"I am scared of Bryan [sic] and want him to leave me alone" is what one woman told investigators in an affidavit about a month after she first met Deputy Lynch.

According to police, Deputy Lynch was one of the responding officers on March 21 when the woman's ex-boyfriend allegedly stole her car after they had had an argument. The woman said that she and Lynch were "flirtatious" with one another; the next morning, she woke up to find that he had gone out of his way to find her on social media. He had messaged her just after 4 a.m.

Deputy Lynch said in an affidavit that he was looking to start an "intimate relationship," providing far fewer details than the woman.

She said they exchanged text messages and met up briefly in the parking lot of a Byrne Dairy in Mattydale that night, talking for about 20 minutes, and moving on from there. About a week and a half later without contact, the messages started again. Around that time, the woman said that Lynch responded to the HomeBase Bar after she had had an "incident" with her ex-boyfriend. Lynch told investigators that her ex had punched her in the face.

Lynch told his fellow deputies that the woman was too intoxicated to provide a statement, but proceeded to drive her home and begin kissing her.

The woman said that while she was ok with the kissing, she had to repeatedly stop him from trying to push up her dress.

She said that she felt that Lynch was pressuring her to press charges against her ex-boyfriend — even showing up the next day with documents to sign. She said that she was uncomfortable with signing the paperwork but felt she needed to anyway, later telling investigators that there were actually inaccuracies in the documents.

That same night after driving her home, he again kept trying to pull up her dress, according to the woman, but she pushed him away. She said that Lynch waited around for an hour before leaving.

"I think he wanted to have sex with me and was upset I did not want to," the woman said in the affidavit.

On April 17, she said that Brian pressured her to meet up at a McDonald's on Route 11 in Mattydale. She said that in the parking lot, he insisted on coming over to her house later in the day, but she repeatedly explained that she would not be home.

That same evening, she said that Lynch called and texted her, seemingly drunk, insisting on coming over. At around 11:30 p.m., she said that she got notifications from her RING cameras — showing Lynch attempting to break into her house.

Lynch told investigators that he was going to wait for her to "hang out" once he got inside, and apologized for causing damage. Investigators estimated that he caused $300 worth of damage using a knife to try to get inside.

That night, the woman said that she was scared of Brian because he was a "cop" and directed a friend to report a break-in. Lynch left before the police arrived.

On April 20, deputies with the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department arrested their colleague at his home, finding him seemingly intoxicated. He made suicidal remarks, prompting the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office to file for an ERPO to remove his firearms. A judge granted the request, pending a hearing for a final ERPO order on May 2.

The Sheriff's Office charged Lynch with criminal mischief in the fourth degree for purposefully damaging her doors, as well as official misconduct for "operating within his official function as a Deputy Sheriff he did with intent to obtain the benefit of sexual gratification."

Sheriff Toby Shelley and Undersheriff Jeffrey Passino declined to speak on camera, but Passino spoke with CNY Central over the phone. He said that while the unpaid suspension is only set for 30 days, a deputy facing criminal charges will not be in a public-facing role until those matters are resolved.

He said that they will "police" this deputy the way they would anyone else, promising a full investigation and total transparency. In response to CNY Central's questions about how they will investigate his 14 years at the office for other examples of misconduct, he said that so far, no one else has come forward since the Sheriff's Department made this matter public last week.

He said that internal investigators will ask him about prior cases, but did not comment on whether they will look through each case individually.

Onondaga County Assistant District Attorney Joe Coolican said that his office will have access to past disciplinary records, should those records actually exist. He declined to comment much further, adding that they would only bring in a third party to investigate if there was a clear conflict of interest.

Dr. Keith Taylor, a former New York City Police Officer who now works with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that it is critical that they look over each and every one of Deputy Lynch's cases. Lynch worked eight years in the jail system, and the past six months on road patrol.

Dr. Taylor said the allegations are deeply troubling, "The power imbalance is significant. The victim is basically at a vulnerable state in their life."

Dr. Taylor said that if the allegations are true, Lynch abused his position, putting the woman through a second traumatic experience after she called on the police for help.