Former Irish Olympic swim coach George Gibney to be sentenced in Dublin
George Gibney, the former Ireland Olympic swimming coach convicted of sexually abusing four young athletes, is due to be sentenced at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday.
The hearing follows his conviction in July on 39 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape, as reported by The Guardian. The offences date to the 1970s and 1980s, with some counts beginning in 1971.
The four women were girls training under Gibney when the abuse took place. The court heard evidence covering more than a decade. All four gave accounts that led to the July verdicts.
Gibney was once one of the most powerful figures in Irish swimming. He established the Trojan club in south Dublin. He coached Ireland at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988.
He was first charged in Ireland in 1993. Ireland's Supreme Court then ruled he could not face trial on 27 counts of indecency and carnal knowledge because of the time that had passed since the alleged offences. Gibney later moved to Scotland and then to the United States, where he lived in Colorado, California and Florida.
The case was reopened after four women made statements to Irish police between 2020 and 2022. Those statements led to fresh charges, an extradition warrant and his arrest in Seminole County, Florida, on decades-old child sexual abuse charges.
He appeared in a Florida court in a wheelchair during the extradition proceedings, before a judge ordered his return to Ireland, as reported by The Irish Times. He had been wanted in Ireland to face more than 50 historical sexual abuse charges.
One survivor said after the July verdicts that it was "a big deal to be vindicated", in comments reported by RTÉ. In court the victims described Gibney as a "brazen and cowardly predator".
Gibney was reported to be 78 at the time of his conviction in July. He was then listed to return to the Central Criminal Court for a sentencing hearing to deal with those convictions.
His years in America had earlier been examined in the 10-part BBC podcast series Where is George Gibney?, presented by Mark Horgan and commissioned in 2020. The judge is expected to pass sentence on Monday.
