PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. (7News) — The convicted child sex abuser who is now facing charges in the 1993 disappearance and murder of George “Junior” Burdynski will remain locked up in Prince George’s County.
Joseph Lynch, 61, made his first court appearance in the Burdynski case on Friday afternoon, where a judge denied him bond.
Prince George’s County police announced Lynch’s arrest on Thursday, though he had already been locked up since May on unrelated sex abuse and arson charges.
RELATED | Man admits he killed missing Maryland child George ‘Junior’ Burdynski 33 years ago
Lynch lived just blocks away from the victim in 1993. Police said he and two other men, Stephen Bruce Leak and James Kowalski, had been operating a child sex ring in the area. All three men were convicted in that investigation at the time. Burdynski was considered a missing person.
A missing flyer for George ‘Junior’ Burdynski. (7News)
In recent months, Prince George’s County Police Department Cold Case detectives went back and reinterviewed everyone they could find associated with the case. That work eventually led them to a now 46-year-old man who was a previously unknown sex abuse victim of Lynch.
That man admitted to detectives that he killed Junior Burdynski during a session of forced abuse at the hands of Lynch.
“That encounter involved a sexual assault and physical abuse that led to critical injuries and then the removal of Junior from the residence and the disposal of his body, said Prince George’s County Police Chief George Nader during a news conference on Thursday. “According to the witness account, Lynch was present and ordered the sexual assault of Junior and participated in the events that followed, including the disposal and removal of Junior’s body. The witness was only 13 years old at the time and had reported being sexually and physically abused by Lynch for over four years.”
Watch the full news conference below:
PGPD held a news conference Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, to announce an arrest in the disappearance of George ‘Junior’ Burdynski.
Charging documents detailed how Lynch allegedly rolled the boy’s body inside a carpet, which was then wrapped in a tarp and driven away from Lynch’s home. Investigators did not say where the body was taken, only that it was somewhere within Prince George’s County.
Lynch now faces second-degree murder and rape charges against Lynch for his role in Burdynski’s death.
As for the now 46-year-old man who admitted to killing Burdynski, sources said at this point he is not facing any charges. Under Maryland law, because he was just 13 at the time, he can’t be charged. Sources said he is now fully cooperating with police.
Detectives believe Lynch sexually assaulted other victims. If you have information about Lynch or his victims, you are asked to call police at 301-772-4930.
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