Disgraced surf coach Connor Lyons to be sentenced next week after confirming guilty pleas to 28 child abuse charges

Once celebrated as a popular Sunshine Coast surf coach and mentor to young athletes, a former instructor will face sentencing next week after pleading guilty to a series of child exploitation and abuse offences. Connor John Christopher Lyons, 27, appeared by video link in the Maroochydore District Court on Thursday, dressed in prison greens, with his once-recognisable blonde highlights now darker and sporting a goatee. He has remained in custody since his second arrest last December when multiple victims came forward. Lyons was first arrested on the Sunshine Coast in December 2024, facing 12 counts of indecently assaulting children and three counts of wilful exposure. Police said the offences involved two boys on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts over a 14-month period beginning in August 2023. Later that same week, he was arrested again and charged with a further 14 offences. Authorities said that following his initial arrest, Lyons accessed and deleted child exploitation material from a device at his mother’s home on the Sunshine Coast. During a police interview, Lyons admitted to deleting the material and acknowledged committing several other offences. Police also told the court that he had accessed child pornography online for more than a decade. Prosecutor Tegan Smith told the court that Lyons first indecently dealt with children in 2018 and had admitted not only to abusing children but also to filming the assaults and re-watching the recordings. The now former surf instructor, who once promoted lessons “for all ages” to thousands of followers on his since-deleted Instagram account, pleaded guilty to 28 offences. Lyons had already pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court in May and formally confirmed those pleas on Wednesday in the District Court. These included grooming two children under 16 for a sexual act, multiple counts of indecent treatment, including exposing children, taking photographs, and offences involving children under 13, all while in a position of guardianship or care. He is also charged with making child exploitation material, possessing such material through a hidden or anonymised network, using a carriage service on two occasions to access child abuse material, and one charge of damaging evidence with intent. Lyons discharged his lawyer during the case and continues to insist on representing himself. Judge Glen Cash pressed him last week about legal representation, but Lyons remained firm. “I’m still representing myself,” he replied. Lyons’ case will return to the Maroochydore District Court next Thursday for sentencing. He remains in custody and did not apply for bail.