Frank Parlato
Ryan Flynn called me from Erie County Holding Center last night and told me he’s going to die there.
“I’m going on a full hunger strike, no food or no water,” he said. “I plan to die in here.”
He started at 11:00 AM yesterday, January 3, 2026.
“Get your headline ready,” he told me. “Inmate dies in Erie County Holding Center after three series part.”
He’s referencing the three stories I’ve published about the events that led to his arrest and remand after accusing his older cousin, former Erie County District Attorney John Flynn, of sexual molestation when he was a child.
Ryan has now been held without bail for more than two months.
THE ARREST: A SCREENSHOT
On October 21, 2025, Ryan Flynn was arrested on charges of Criminal Contempt in the First Degree (a Class E felony) and Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree (a Class A misdemeanor).
The alleged crime: threatening to murder Debra Flynn, the wife of former Erie County DA John Flynn, in violation of an Order of Protection issued September 18, 2025, by Judge J. Mark Gruber.
Detective Robert Kubus of the Tonawanda Police Department filed a criminal complaint on October 16, 2025. He swore under penalty of perjury that his allegations were based on:
- A supporting deposition from Debra Flynn
- A copy of the Order of Protection
- A “printout of screenshot from Twitter/x account ‘John flynn @ needmorehaters1′”
The supporting deposition from Debra Flynn:
Q: What happened?
A: Ryan Flynn made a social media post threatening to kill me.
Q: Are you fearful?
A: Yes, I am fearful of being harmed. There is a valid order of protection in place.
(End of Statement)
The deposition doesn’t say when she saw the post, how she discovered it, or why she believes Ryan posted it. No metadata. No IP address. No device records. No explanation of how an anonymous Twitter account called “John flynn @ needmorehaters1″—named after the husband of the person allegedly being threatened—belongs to Ryan Flynn.
The screenshot itself shows a post that reads:
“If you kidnap and violate my rights and bring me to ecmc or jail illegally to the day I get out I’m going to murder John Flynn’s wife for Framing me for crimes and mental health to cover up corruption just kidding Without a hearing the day I get out I’ll murder John Flynn’s wife”
Ryan Flynn was arrested five days after the post allegedly appeared. He’s been held without bail ever since.
THE PATTERN: TEN ARRESTS IN THIRTEEN MONTHS
Ryan’s October 21 arrest wasn’t his first. Between September 2024 and October 2025, Ryan was arrested ten times. All of the arrests seem to stem from either texts or phone calls. He was not charged with any violence and the charges suggest he did not confront or harrass anyone in person.
- September 10, 2024: Aggravated Harassment 2nd Degree (released)
- April 10, 2025: False Reporting of an Incident (released to pre-trial supervision)
- May 26, 2025: Criminal Contempt 2nd Degree (released)
- May 26, 2025: Resisting Arrest, Obstruction of Governmental Administration, traffic violations (released)
- May 27, 2025: Criminal Contempt 2nd Degree (bail set, posted)
- July 9, 2025: Harassment 2nd Degree, Stalking 4th Degree (released on bail)
- July 10, 2025: Aggravated Harassment 2nd Degree (bail set, posted)
- August 28, 2025: Aggravated Harassment 2nd Degree (released)
- October 21, 2025: Criminal Contempt 2nd Degree in Amherst (released)
- October 21, 2025: Criminal Contempt 1st Degree (remanded without bail)
According to his attorney’s November 3, 2025 court filing, Ryan “appeared in court each and every time he was required on each and every case.” When he learned a warrant had been issued on the tenth charge, he turned himself in while voluntarily attending court on another matter.
Ryan has no criminal convictions. Given the number of people involved, one might consider the possibility that some of those who engaged were actually baiting him.
On the tenth arrest, Judge Gruber remanded him without bail.
THE EVALUATION: TWO DOCTORS, TWO DIAGNOSES, ONE CONCLUSION
On September 8, 2025, Ryan Flynn was evaluated by two forensic psychologists at the Erie County Forensic Mental Health Service: Dr. Stephanie M. Ficarro and Dr. Corey Leidenfrost.
Documents obtained by The Frank Report show that both doctors were asked to determine whether Ryan had the capacity to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his defense.
Their diagnoses differed, but their conclusion was identical:
Ryan Flynn is not competent to stand trial.
Dr. Ficarro wrote:
“In accordance with Criminal Procedure Law §730 the purpose of this report is to advise the Court that it is my opinion with reasonable professional and psychological certainty that Mr. Flynn does not have (a) sufficient present ability to consult with his attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding of his case and does not have (b) a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.”
“It is in my opinion that Mr. Flynn is at the present time an incapacitated person as defined under CPL §730 and is at this time not competent to proceed with the adjudication process.”
Dr. Leidenfrost reached the same conclusion.
Both doctors recommended psychiatric hospitalization.
THE DELUSION DIAGNOSIS
On September 17, 2025, Christina Scott, Director of Erie County Forensic Mental Health Service, sent a letter to Judge Gruber:
“As you can see from the evaluations completed by two doctors, Ryan Flynn does not have the capacity to proceed.”
According to the evaluations, it was his “persecutory delusional thinking”—specifically his belief that his uncle, former Erie County DA John Flynn, is using the legal system to silence him about childhood sexual abuse.
Dr. Ficarro wrote:
“Mr. Flynn did exhibit evidence of persecutory delusional thinking, as he was unable to discuss his legal case or much of his history without perseverating on beliefs that law enforcement and his uncle are out to get him. These beliefs appeared to be very inflexible, and he was not receptive to challenging conflicting information.”
Dr. Leidenfrost was more detailed:
“He exhibited crystallized persecutory delusions, and paranoia (e.g., his belief that the court systems, Buffalo police, and the ‘Buffalo Mob’ and ‘Kingsmen Motorcycle Club’ were involved in a complicated conspiracy to keep him in jail).”
“He also reportedly believes that the Orders of Protection and warrants for his arrest are illegitimate and stated that he does not recognize them because they are ‘abuses of power’ and ‘prosecutorial misconduct’ to cover up alleged sexual abuse towards him by his uncle—Mr. John Flynn—when he was a minor.”
THE ERIE COUNTY CIRCLE
The two psychiatrists who evaluated Ryan in September 2025 work for the Erie County Forensic Mental Health Service.
All of the institutions Ryan references operate under Erie County government—the same system John Flynn led as DA for seven years:
- Erie County Mental Health evaluators found his core belief delusional.
- Erie County courts issued orders of protection against him.
- Town of Tonawanda Police (Erie County jurisdiction) arrested him.
- The Erie County Sheriff holds him in the Erie County Holding Center.
The involvement of interconnected county agencies in evaluating, charging, and detaining a man accusing a former county DA raises questions about potential conflicts of interest and procedural fairness—questions the public record has not yet resolved.
But consider the facts:
- Ryan filed a police report in April 2025 alleging that John Flynn sexually abused him as a child
- Six months later, Ryan was arrested on charges tied to an anonymous Twitter account
- The evidence consists of a screenshot with no forensic analysis
- Ryan was evaluated by Erie County employees—the same county government John Flynn led as DA for seven years
- Those employees diagnosed his belief that the system is being used against him as a delusion
- Ryan was then jailed by Erie County courts, held in an Erie County jail, and has not been transferred to psychiatric care as required by law
- The family court orders Ryan allegedly violated were vacated by Judge Mary Kearney—yet he was still charged criminally
The doctors say Ryan’s belief that the legal system is being weaponized against him is delusional.
THE CATCH-22:
TOO INCOMPETENT TO RELEASE, TOO COMPETENT TO HOSPITALIZE
Under New York Criminal Procedure Law §730, if a defendant is found incompetent to stand trial, they cannot be prosecuted. They must be transferred to a secure psychiatric hospital designated by the New York State Office of Mental Health for treatment.
Ryan Flynn was found incompetent by two doctors on September 8, 2025.
On September 17, 2025, the Director of Erie County Forensic Mental Health Service sent Judge Gruber a letter stating: “As you can see from the evaluations completed by two doctors, Ryan Flynn does not have the capacity to proceed.”
One day after Erie County Mental Health notified Judge Gruber that Ryan lacked capacity to proceed, Judge Gruber issued an Order of Protection against Ryan on September 18, 2025.
Five weeks later, Ryan was arrested for allegedly violating that order.
He is now being held in Delta unit at Erie County Holding Center, in the most restrictive section of an antiquated jail.
Delta unit has seven cells, each roughly 4×6 feet. The common area is so small Ryan said his entire body couldn’t fit lying across it. Ryan has no water in his cell. The communal sink is covered in rust and black mold. The heat has been turned off for days. According to his account in Part 3, guards have rewarded inmates who attacked him.
Ryan remains in the Erie County Holding Center with no apparent transfer.
The result is a legal paradox: expert reports treat Ryan as too mentally ill to face trial, yet he remains jailed as if fully competent and dangerous—all on charges tied to a single anonymous social media post with no forensic proof he wrote it.
Judge Gruber ruled the competency question provided “good cause” to skip the preliminary hearing, pausing the speedy-release clock. Meanwhile, prosecutors argued Ryan is too dangerous to free based on prior arrests and the current charge. Ryan stays in county jail—no hearing, no bail, no psychiatric transfer—trapped between being too incompetent to exercise his rights and too threatening to release.
THE PRELIMINARY HEARING THAT NEVER HAPPENED
Ryan was arrested on October 21, 2025 and arraigned the same day.
Under CPL §180.80, when a defendant is arraigned on a felony complaint, they must be released unless a preliminary hearing is held within 144 hours (6 days).
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for October 28, 2025.
According to Ryan’s attorney, Nicholas Texido, when the parties appeared on October 28, the prosecution had witnesses ready to proceed.
In a court filing dated November 3, 2025, Texido wrote:
“The prosecution indicated that it had its witnesses ready and available, but declined to run the hearing. The court denied the defendant’s motion to be released pursuant to CPL 180.80, finding that the parties could not run a felony hearing with the competency ruling, and that Flynn was not entitled to be released, basically ruling that the CPL 180.80 timelines are inapplicable where there exists a lingering competency issue.”
Texido cited three cases—all directly on point:
- People ex rel Molinaro v Warden, Rikers Island, 39 NY3d 120 (2022)
- People v Smith, 143 Misc2d 100 (1989)
- People v EA, 78 Misc3d 515 (2023)
All three held that CPL §730 competency proceedings do not excuse the prosecution from conducting a preliminary hearing within the statutory timeframe. A defendant with pending competency proceedings is entitled to release if the prosecution doesn’t hold the hearing before the CPL §180.80 deadline expires.
On November 4, 2025, Niagara County Assistant DA Amber Poulos (appointed as special prosecutor because Erie County would have a conflict) filed a response. She argued that the cases were distinguishable and that Judge Gruber had already found “good cause” to deny release based on Ryan’s mental health status and the competency evaluation.
She wrote:
“The holding in that matter states that the obligation to dispose of the felony is triggered when the defendant is found fit to proceed. Currently, the defendant has not been found fit to proceed.”
Translation: Ryan can’t be prosecuted because he’s incompetent, but he also can’t be released because he hasn’t been found competent. He’s in legal limbo.
JOHN FLYNN’S APRIL 2 SWORN STATEMENT
On April 2, 2025—eleven days before Ryan filed his police report alleging sexual abuse—John Flynn filed a sworn statement with Tonawanda Police seeking a stay-away Order of Protection against Ryan.
In it, Flynn wrote:
“I further say on 4/2/25 Ryan Flynn called the police to conduct a welfare check on me. He claimed I was making suicidal statements and using illegal drugs. Ryan also claimed he got a call from my son Derek who was home with me at the time. Derek lives in New York City and never called Ryan.”
“TP PD Police Officers showed up at my house at 5:20 am to check my welfare. I told them this was a totally false accusation, and Ryan has been sending emails to my law firm and other court officials.”
Flynn characterized Ryan’s welfare check call as harassment. Ryan told me during a call that Derek Flynn had told him his father “uses cocaine and has been suicidal since his grandfather passed away.”
Flynn says Derek never called Ryan. Flynn didn’t provide Derek’s sworn statement denying it. In fact, according to Ryan, “A deposition from Derek Flynn was not provided in discovery or at the time of the arrest, affirmed by Cindy Cooper in court and via phone call.”
On April 10, 2025, Ryan was charged with False Reporting of an Incident.
According to Ryan, he filed his formal police report with Buffalo Police on April 13, 2025—three days after being charged with making a false report.
Six months later, Ryan was arrested on an anonymous Twitter post and jailed without bail.
RYAN’S STATEMENT
Ryan dictated a statement during our call and said that if I publish it verbatim, he will end his hunger strike.
I am publishing it in full, without edits, here: [Link: Ryan Flynn’s Full Statement — Published Verbatim]
THE EVIDENCE RYAN SAYS EXISTS
After Ryan finished his statement, I asked him about the evidence. He told me it was all posted on @pub_corruption_5, a Twitter (X) account where he said I’d find recordings, text messages, and court documents, verifying what he said in his statement.
Whether it’s evidence or just documentation of his grievances, I can’t tell from scrolling through months of cryptic posts, reposted grievances, and accusations. The account has 83 followers and 15,500 posts.
THE ULTIMATUM
At the end of our call, Ryan made his position clear.
“I will end the hunger strike if my uncle reads this article to me,” he said.
Ryan Flynn is sitting in Delta unit right now, refusing food and water. He started his hunger strike at 11:00 AM on January 3, 2026.
If he dies there, Erie County will likely say he was mentally ill, and they tried to help him.
But the documents tell a different story. Two doctors said he needed hospitalization. Director Christina Scott told Judge Gruber on September 17 that Ryan “does not have the capacity to proceed.” The law says he can’t be prosecuted without being found fit. Court of Appeals precedent says he should have been released when the preliminary hearing didn’t happen within 144 hours.
Erie County jailed him anyway.
NEXT: Part 5 will examine whether the family court orders Ryan allegedly violated were actually vacated—and if so, why he was charged criminally anyway. We will also examine the double standard John Flynn used in his “railroading” of Steve Pigeon on false charges by an accuser who has arguably far more serious mental issues than any alleged against Ryan Flynn.
Editor’s Analysis & Opinion
It may be that, if Ryan Flynn is legitimately disturbed it is because his cousin, John Flynn, molested him when he was young. Ryan lived with it. Then, now, when he makes his outcry, he faces a wall of influence determined to treat him hard and different. No bail. No treatment. He’s crazy but we won’t let him out of jail – even if we let violent felons out on no bail.
In my opinion, he has been treated differently than the way John Flynn treated a truly mentally disturbed teen, Steve Pigeon’s niece, whose implausible story could have passed muster with no honest prosecutor anywhere. She was not arrested. She made up a molestation story about Pigeon.
Instead of pursuing the truth, Flynn saw his chance at getting even with his longtime political adversary.
“I stand with the child,” he said.
Much like one suspects he is getting even with Ryan, who might indeed by more sane than his cousin, John Flynn, who may be gaslighting the young man he once molested.
No, it may not be that Ryan Flynn is mentally unwell. It may be the opposite. What we may have is a textbook case of projection. When John Flynn prosecuted Pigeon falsely, it may have been his own crime against his cousin he was really trying to prosecute in order to absolve himself of his earlier crime. Mentally ill people do things in such ways.
Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.
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Undercover Kitty
For years, rape cases were habitually described as “assaults” in internal police records, Spotlight PA found. The newsroom also questioned whether factors other than the new definition made previous rape numbers appear low.
Dr. Raykovitz should of reported rape not assaults
The judge never signed an order concluding Ryan was incompetent. That’s why he’s not been transferred to a psychiatric facility.
Ryan’s doing exactly what they want – they’ll say he’s crazy because he’s on a hunger strike as a means of suicide.
If anyone was concerned Ryan should have been moved immediately to a psychiatric hospital or the ER for an evaluation because he’s harming himself.
The sham of a delusion disorder is used in many courts- however you can be delusional about one topic only. They don’t want to accept his theory of conspiracy and no investigation has been done, but these two hired gun psychologists – who cannot make medical diagnoses – have somehow determined that his theory is non credible.
Amazing powers they must have.
The affidavit explains nothing. That cop did John Flynn a favor – no doubt about it.
Political game – to protect the good of Erie county.
No one is concerned with a conflict of interest?
It’s a joke.
Thank you for taking this on. Likely this targeting happens far more than we know.
Maybe Kait Gannon and Laurie Krull can help.
“… Kait Gannon and licensed clinical social worker Laurie Krull started a podcast together as a last-ditch effort to keep Kait safe. They also sounded an alarm about offenders living in their region of western New York.”
https://youtu.be/O0TJZJJdrLw?t=622
https://www.academia.edu/8751202/The_Adornment_of_Silence_Secrecy_and_Symbolic_Power_in_American_Freemasonry
The judge is legally required to make an order of incompetency based on the info provided. They never held a hearing and there was not an order of incompetency made by the judge. Saying “competency is in question” is not definitive.
Without a judge making the determination he cannot be transferred to a psychiatric facility. This is a set up.
They need a psychiatric eval done by a medical doctor. Anything short of that is a legal play by the govt.
“Forensic psychologists” are used by the courts when there are zero forensics involved. There is nothing defining a forensic evaluation and no standards that are valid or reliable as evidenced by two psychologists having different diagnoses but both deliver the court what was sought- that Ryan is incompetent.
A simple call to Derek or his affidavit stating he never spoke to Ryan – or phone records, would have been easy to obtain.