Former Irish Olympic swimming coach sentenced for child abuse

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 12 Oct, 12:42 · Archive

George Gibney, former Ireland Olympic swimming coach, has been sentenced to 16 years and eight months for indecently assaulting four girls and attempted rape.

George Gibney, the former Irish Olympic swimming coach, has been sentenced to 16 years and eight months for indecently assaulting four girls and attempting to rape one of them. The 77-year-old was convicted of 39 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape following a trial at Dublin's Central Criminal Court. Judge Michael O'Higgins suspended the final 14 months of the sentence. Gibney was Ireland's coach for the Olympic games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988. He had established the Trojan swimming club in south Dublin and coached emerging talent at pools around the city before allegations emerged that he preyed on children at pools, in his car and other locations.

After initial charges in the early 1990s, a supreme court ruling in 1993 prevented him from facing trial because of the time elapsed since the alleged offences. Gibney fled to the United States, where he lived for decades. He was eventually arrested on foot of an Irish extradition warrant in Florida and brought back to face justice. A jury returned guilty verdicts on 40 charges relating to incidents between 1974 and 1981, when the victims were aged between eight and 15. Evin Daly, a child welfare advocate who helped track Gibney in Florida, said the sentence represented 'vindication for those children'.

How it is being reported

• Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney jailed over indecent assaultsGeorge Gibney, who was arrested on foot of an Irish extradition warrant in Florida least year, had lived in the US for yearsIndependent World · 12 Oct, 12:21
• Former Irish Olympic swimming coach and child abuser George Gibney to be sentencedGibney, 77, will face justice for abusing athletes in the 1970s and 80s after decades of effort to track and extradite him More than half a century after he started sexually abusing children, and enjoyed prestige as Ireland’s Olympic swimming coach before fleeing to the United States, George Gibney is to face justice. The 77-year-old is to be sentenced at the central criminal court in Dublin on Monday for abusing four young female athletes in the 1970s and 1980s. Continue reading...Guardian World · 11 Oct, 10:38

In this story: George Gibney · Ireland · Dublin · Los Angeles · Seoul · Florida · Evin Daly

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