Ashley M. Lynch (Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office) and the bar where she allegedly left her cellphone with incriminating videos (Google Maps)
A 37-year-old woman in Florida was arrested this week after she left her cellphone at a restaurant on which the staff allegedly found videos of her surreptitiously filming naked children in the shower and performing sexual acts on a “small dog.”
Ashley M. Lynch was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with on six counts of possessing obscene material depicting child pornography as well as three counts of video voyeurism of a child less than 16 years old.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the investigation into Lynch began when on Dec. 23, 2023, when she went to O’Shea’s Irish Pub on Clematis Street, about 75 miles north of Miami. Lynch allegedly went to the bar that evening but left her cellphone behind when she went home. Lynch then called the pub looking for her phone and gave the bartender the passcode to unlock the device to prove it belonged to her.
“Upon unlocking her cellphone, the bartender observed Lynch performing sexual acts on a small dog,” police wrote in the affidavit.
Authorities obtained a search warrant and conducted a forensic review of the phone.
“While reviewing the cellphone extraction, [detectives], in addition to viewing evidence of the crime of bestiality, observed two videos which appeared to be video voyeurism of two prepubescent minors in the shower,” investigators said.
A deeper review of the phone allegedly revealed three separate videos that appeared to show Lynch filming a 6-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl nude in the shower. In all three of the videos, Lynch appeared to focus the camera on the children’s genitals, police said.
Authorities believed it was Lynch filming the children because the hands of the person making the video appear several times showing a distinct nail polish that matches the color of Lynch’s nails at the same time the videos were made.
In one of the videos recording the female child showering, the camera is focused on the child from behind. When the child quickly turns to face the camera, the individual holding the camera “acted startled and quickly moves the camera behind a shower curtain and then focuses on the ground,” police said.
Police noted that the path for the videos in Lynch’s phone was “Telegram-Cloud-Document,” which investigators said likely referred to the social media app that is encrypted and deletes files after they are viewed.
“[F]or this reason, individuals who are sexually interested in children prefer to use [Telegram],” the affidavit states.
Investigators also uncovered three images of child sexual abuse material involving a girl “approximately 2 to 3 years of age” being sexually abused by an adult male.
Lynch’s relationship to the children she allegedly recorded in the shower was redacted from the affidavit to protect the identities of the victims.
Lynch is currently being held in the Palm Beach Detention Center in lieu of bond of $135,000. If she does make bond, a judge ordered that she have no contact with any animals or anyone under the age of 18. She would also be prohibited from having any access to the internet.
According to records, she is set to go to court again on April 5.