[B]URLINGTON — Former Rice Memorial High School teacher Brian Lynam pleaded guilty to taking an “upskirt” photograph of a student at the school in a plea agreement that will keep him out of prison.
Lynam, 32, was charged with three counts of taking photographs up the skirts of female students, staff members and women in the community, according to the affidavit in the case. Two of those charges were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea to one of the charges.
Judge Martin A. Maley accepted the plea agreement at a hearing Tuesday. The agreement includes two years of probation, and a 6-12 month suspended sentence if he violates his probation.
Lynam agreed to forever forfeit his teaching license in the state of Vermont, and to be entered into a national database that will inform schools in other states of his guilty plea. He will not have to register as a sex offender as a result of the plea.
He was first charged in April 2018 after a student witnessed him taking a photograph up the skirt of another 17-year-old student. He faced two additional charges in September for taking upskirt photographs of staff members at the high school.
He faced no more than two years in prison and a fine of no more than $1,000 for each charge.
Deputy State’s Attorney Dana DiSano said that all three of the victims that were identified — a student and two staff members — were supportive of the plea agreement. Two of the victims and an attorney representing the other were involved in the plea negotiation process, DiSano said.
Lynam will undergo a restorative justice program as part of the agreement. He also is mandated to undergo a mental health screening and complete individual sex offender counseling with a counselor approved by his parole officer.
During the hearing, Lynam said he was sorry for what he had done and had hoped his victims would one day be able to forgive him, even though he didn’t expect them to.
“I am deeply and genuinely sorry for what I did,” he said. “I know in my heart of hearts I am a good person capable of redemption.”
Maley said that Lynam sounded as if he was taking responsibility for his actions, but said he was surprised Lynam was only facing misdemeanor charges.
“I don’t know how the victims in this case can put this behind them, especially since their trust was breached so egregiously by this person,” he said.
However, Maley said that he saw no reason to reject the agreement the state had reached with Lynam and his attorney, Paul Volk, since the charges were misdemeanors.
The additional charges came after the Vermont State Police searched Lynam’s electronic devices and found 10 to 15 upskirt photographs of female students, multiple upskirt photographs of high school staff members and upskirt photographs of 10 to 15 other women.
The school first called South Burlington Police on March 20, 2018, after a student had told a school counselor that he had seen Lynam follow a female student into a staircase and take a photograph up her skirt. That incident occurred on March 7, 2018.
