US government asks court to detain George Gibney until Irish extradition case is concluded
George Gibney
, was facing such serious criminal charges in
Ireland
he had an incentive to flee if granted bail and should remain in custody pending his extradition, the
United States
attorney for the Middle District of Florida has said.
In a submission to the United States district court in Orlando, Gregory W Kehoe has urged the court to deny Gibney (77) access to bail as 'he cannot meet his burden of showing that he poses no risk of flight or danger to the community'.
Gibney (77) was arrested in Florida on Tuesday on foot of an extradition request from Ireland, where he is facing 78 charges or indecent assault, and one charge of attempted rape. The alleged victims were aged between eight and 14 or 15 years when they say they were abused by Gibney, who was their swimming coach in South Dublin at different times between 1971 and 1981.
'Gibney is a flight risk and a danger to the community,' said the legal submission, obtained by The Irish Times, seeking his remand in custody in Florida until the extradition request has been full disposed of. 'As an initial matter, Gibney is alleged to have sexually assaulted at least four minor girls, abusing his authority as their swimming coach, over a period of several years. The seriousness of the offences for which Gibney is charged in Ireland heightens his risk of flight.'
READ MORE
George Gibney: why did it take decades for the alleged sexual abuser to face new charges?
Listen |
19:02
George Gibney was arrested on Tuesday in Florida after a Garda request was made to the US State Department to extradite him to Ireland to face charges relating to alleged historical child sex abuse.The 77-year-old former swim coach, who avoided trial on sexual abuse charges in 1994 after successfully challenging his prosecution in the High Court, is now accused of 78 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape relating to four girls; and the alleged attempted rape of one of the girls.All four were minors, aged between eight and 15, and were coached by Gibney.They made complaints to the Garda between 2020 and 2022 after the BBC and Second Captains podcast Where is George Gibney? was aired in 2020.But why did it take over 30 years for Gibney to face fresh charges - and what happens next?Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally explains the background.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon
It said, in the case of elderly suspects facing extradition, their advanced years carries an additional incentive to flee in a bid to avoid justice. 'This is particularly true given that Gibney is more than 70 years old and thus faces the real prospect of spending the remainder of his life in jail,' the submission said.
It said the circumstances of Gibney previously avoiding going on trial in the Republic – in the 1990s – should also be taken into consideration and, it said, adds to the case for his being denied bail.
'In relocating to the United States after the first set of allegations was dismissed, Gibney was able to evade the investigation of these allegations in Ireland,' Mr Kehoe's submission states.' Accordingly, allowance of bail in any amount would not guarantee the fugitive's presence in court and would invite the possibility of embarrassing the United States in the conduct of its foreign affairs.
[
Why has it taken so long to arrest George Gibney in the US to enable extradition?
Opens in new window
]
'Either Gibney's danger to the community or flight risk would be enough, standing alone, for the court to deny any forthcoming application for bail.'
In 1993 Gibney appeared before the courts in Dublin charged with 27 sexual crimes. However, he took a High Court challenge to his prosecution and was successful. The court effectively ruled, in 1994, the allegations were too old, and many details too vague, to warrant a prosecution.
Gibney left Ireland, settling in the US in 1995, and remained there for the past 30 years, residing in Florida in recent years. However, between 2020 and 2022 the BBC published a podcast, Where is George Gibney? It prompted the four women now accusing him to come forward and give statements to the Garda.
A fresh criminal investigation was launched, with the DPP directing in May, 2023, he should face 79 charges. Last October the Irish embassy in Washington formally made a request to the US authorities to arrest Gibney for the purpose of extraditing to the Republic to stand trial. He was detained by US marshals in Florida on Tuesday and remains in custody there.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
FAI board holds unscheduled board meeting after standoff with Oireachtas sport committee
The board of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has held an unscheduled board meeting after a standoff emerged with the Oireachtas sport committee. The organisation was due to appear before the committee next Wednesday, but after its regular meeting last week, members of the committee were told the FAI was seeking to delay the meeting. It is understood the FAI wrote to the committee outlining that it wanted to postpone the meeting until Garda investigations into allegations of inappropriate relationships with players against former coaches, and unwanted sexual advances. The allegations were first made public last summer by RTÉ Investigates and the Sunday Independent. Gardaí later confirmed that they are investigating at least one complaint regarding the matter and were in contact with several more potential victims. READ MORE RTÉ has previously reported that the former coaches have denied any wrongdoing. [ FAI stands down three former women's football coaches after allegations of inappropriate behaviour Opens in new window ] Political sources said this week that the committee had decided to respond to the FAI saying it wanted the meeting to go ahead, arguing that the questioning could be constructed in such a way as to avoid encroaching on areas that might be subject to any ongoing investigation. It is unclear what the outcome or decision of the board meeting held on Friday night was, if any. A source with knowledge of discussions denied that there was a split in the board over the matter. It is believed some senior figures at the FAI are deeply sceptical about the merits of attending the committee. A request for comment to the FAI met no immediate response on Friday evening. At the time of the joint RTÉ/Sunday Independent investigation, the FAI said it was treating the allegations with the utmost priority and seriousness. Speaking under Dáil privilege last month, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central Pádraig O'Sullivan said the organisation knew of the allegations in 2023, 'despite the FAI stating publicly that it only learned of these allegations in early 2024″. Mr O'Sullivan said he had seen correspondence dating to May 4th, 2023, which laid this out 'in black and white'. [ Gardaí investigating historical allegations made against women's soccer coach Opens in new window ] Responding, Minister of State for sport Charlie McConalogue said it was the view of his department and of Sport Ireland that the FAI had engaged appropriately with the allegations, and that once it received a formal complaint in January 2024 it acted swiftly and contacted An Garda Síochána and Tusla in accordance with mandatory reporting requirements and its own safeguarding and child welfare regulations. Mr McConalogue said the allegations made by women involved in football in the 1990s were 'truly shocking' and he commended the bravery of those who had come forward to tell their stories.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Refuse worker died after he fell from back of moving bin lorry and hit his head on road, High Court told
The family of a refuse collector who died after falling from the back of a bin truck has had a statutory payment of €35,000 for loss and mental distress approved by the High Court. Mr Justice Tony O'Connor heard how the vehicle had gone over a speed bump and the man, who was in his 50s, fell from the rear and hit his head on the road, causing severe injury. In 2020, the man's daughter, who was then a minor, brought High Court proceedings through her mother against the waste company and the driver of the refuse truck. It was alleged that the respondents were negligent and in breach of their statutory duties. READ MORE The daughter and the mother were dependents of the worker and all three lived together, the court heard. In the case it was alleged that the truck was driving at an inappropriate speed when approaching the speed bump, that the company allowed or permitted the worker to travel by holding on to the rear of the vehicle without a helmet and that there was a failure to have in place an adequate step upon which he could safely stand. The plaintiff said that the claimed breaches came under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005. Damages were also sought under the Civil Liability Act for the benefit of the dependents in the form of the statutory payment. Padraig D Lyons, for the plaintiff, told the court on Friday the case had been settled and the only matter to be attended to was the statutory payment for loss and mental distress. Mr Lyons said the mother was waiving her entitlement to the payment in favour of her daughter. Four others were also entitled to a part of the payment, but had not originally been in the case as statutory dependents, he said. Mr Justice O'Connor made an order directing the payment of €35,000 to the plaintiff. He expressed his sympathy to the family for what they had gone through and he wished them well.
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Former Leaving Cert student denies he was groomed by teacher
A former Leaving Cert student has denied that he was groomed by his teacher or that he was in a romantic relationship with her. The young man told a fitness-to-teach inquiry that a sexual encounter with the teacher came about by chance in early August 2018. The inquiry concerns allegations that the teacher, who taught English in a Dublin school, was in a romantic relationship with the then Leaving Cert student, who was 18 years old, during the summer of 2018. It is further alleged that she and the student exchanged at least one photograph and/or video on the social media app Snapchat on a daily basis from June 14th to June 20th, 2018 while he was sitting his Leaving Cert exams and subsequently until August 14th, while he awaited his results. The teacher denies these allegations. READ MORE The Director of the Teaching Council also alleges that the teacher had a sexual encounter with the student on a date unknown in early August 2018, which the teacher has admitted to. The former secondary school student, who is now 25 years old, in his evidence for the teacher, outlined that he had 'just a normal teacher-student relationship' with her. After he finished his Leaving Cert exams he began a retail job in Dublin to allow him to attend university. He then explained how the sexual encounter with the teacher in August came about. On the date in question he and a number of his then work colleagues went on a social night out. 'It was maybe for a birthday, I think we went to a restaurant and then to a pub or a late bar,' the witness said, and who agreed the group were 'going out, out'. In the pub the witness noticed the teacher who appeared to be socialising with a group of people. 'I approached [teacher's first name and second name], I think I said 'hello'. We were talking for a good while, maybe 20 minutes, we had a few drinks, I wasn't drunk,' he said. He thought that there may have been flirting between him and the teacher in the pub and that a connection may have arisen between them there. 'I can't remember if I led her,' he added. He didn't think anything physical happened between them in the pub and he agreed they both decided to leave the pub together. 'I just remember the air hitting me, we ended up walking to a hotel near where we were, we ended up spending the night together,' he said. 'The next morning [teacher's first name and second name] left before [me], I left … by taxi or bus,' he added. The witness was also shown screenshots of a Snapchat profile that it was alleged was his, which he denied: 'For my Snapchat I didn't use my full name.' He was also shown a screenshot of a message that it is alleged that the teacher sent to him on Snapchat, but he responded that he had not used Snapchat since 2016 or 2017 and that he 'never had [the teacher's first name and surname] on Snapchat' or any other social media. He also denied liking any photos on the teacher's social media accounts. He was further shown screenshots of messages on the Facebook messenger app, allegedly sent between the ex-partner of the teacher and the witness, and which were aggressive and confrontational in nature. The witness said that he could not remember receiving or sending the messages but he added that he did not know who the teacher's then partner was in August 2018 or that she had a partner at that time. He said that apart from the sexual encounter in August, the last time he was talking to the teacher was at the end of May 2018 or possibly in the school during the Leaving Cert exams, as there were 'maybe a few people around'. He also denied that he was ever in the then home of the teacher and her ex-partner or that he spent the night in the teacher's car when she returned from a school trip abroad in late August 2018. Under cross examination he denied that he would tell an untruth to protect the teacher. The inquiry will resume at a future date, as yet undecided, to hear evidence from other witnesses on the part of the teacher.
