North Shore Sun

Having just spent the better part of the past 11 years in the state prison system on larceny and forgery charges, Ricky Lynch Sr. was in need of a fresh start financially last July, according to Suffolk police.

With a checkered past that included several arrests, Mr. Lynch knew it would be tough to get quick money.

"He needed a clean slate of credit so he could secure loans and credit cards," said Sgt. Stephen Jensen of the Suffolk County Police Department's identity theft unit.

So, Sgt. Jensen said, Mr. Lynch decided to begin using the Social Security number of someone else with his name -- his son.

Mr. Lynch Sr., 47, of Seaman Avenue in Freeport was arrested Tuesday on charges of identity theft, forgery and tampering with public records after police said he had used his son's Social Security card to obtain a driver's license, secure financial loans and cash checks.

Ricky Lynch Jr., 27, of Coram told police he believed his father had been using his identity at times for 15 years. Mr. Lynch Jr. told investigators his father was responsible for getting him more than $75,000 in debt.

Suffolk Police began their investigation in conjunction with the Department of Motor Vehicles in February, when the younger Mr. Lynch first reported that he believed his father had obtained a New York State driver's license using his Social Security card. While using his new license, police said, Mr. Lynch Sr. received several traffic summonses he never paid. As a result, his son's license was suspended and his auto insurance dropped.

Police said the senior Mr. Lynch had previously been arrested for similar frauds and has been known to use several aliases. He began serving a 10- to 20-year prison sentence in 1998 on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument and forgery, after defrauding more than 100 banks, businesses and individuals out of more than $100,000 by carrying out a two-year string of bad-check scams while living in Coram. After violating his parole, he spent three more years in prison, from 2006 to 2009.

Among the victims in Mr. Lynch's previous fraud case were the Suffolk County Police Department and the county probation department, according to news reports at the time of his previous arrest.

Former Suffolk District Attorney James Catterson told the New York Daily News following Mr. Lynch's 1997 arrest: "Slick Rick has reached the end of the rope."

But Suffolk police said he didn't stop committing similar crimes upon his release from prison.

Sgt. Jensen said it was not uncommon for a parent with a checkered past and a shaky financial future to assume his or her own child's identity.

"Children are often victims of identity theft," Sgt. Jensen said. "And usually a parent is involved. So often it's that they need to pay the rent and this is how they do it."

Unfortunately, Sgt. Jensen said, that often creates major problems for the victims as they get older.

Right now, he said his unit is trying to see what it can do to help the younger Mr. Lynch get his finances in order by building a strong case against his estranged father.

"We're trying to help this young man straighten out his life," Sgt. Jensen said. "We have a long way to go to help him straighten out his situation."

That's because the statute of limitations may have passed for some of the earlier identity theft crimes Mr. Lynch Sr. committed that hurt his son financially, Sgt. Jensen said.

"We have a lot to deal with," he said.

gparpan@northshoresun.com