Forest Hill Man Pleads Guilty To Sexual Abuse

A 38-year-old Forest Hill man pleaded guilty last week, in the second day of his trial, to sexually abusing a 4-year-old child.

Brian Joseph Flynn, 38, of the 2100 block of Putnam Road in Forest Hill, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to one count of sex abuse of a minor and one count of a second-degree sex offense of a minor, according to a release from the Harford County State's Attorney's Office.

The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 45 years in jail, with 25 years of that sentence suspended and 20 years to serve. Along with jail time, Flynn will be placed on sexual offender supervision and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to the release.

Flynn is also prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

Substance abuse and mental health treatment are also conditions of the plea agreement.

The case was in its second day of trial when Flynn changed his plea from not guilty to guilty, the release states.

The victim, who was 4-years-old at the time of the abuse and is now age 5, had not yet testified, but an 8-year-old child who witnessed the abuse testified the first day of the trial.

In July 2011 the victim told a family member about Flynn's abuse and the abuse was reported to Maryland State Police. The case was referred to detectives from the Harford County Child Advocacy Center for investigation and Flynn was arrested that same day.

Since his arrest, Flynn has been held at the pending his trial. Judge Emory Plitt ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Sentencing has not been scheduled.