George Gibney arrested over alleged sexual abuse following extradition from US
The 77-year-old was arrested by US Marshalls in Florida, where he had lived for over 30 years, earlier this month on foot of an extradition request by gardaí. He is accused of 78 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape.
He had been held in custody in the US but was flown to Dublin overnight via Washington DC, escorted by members of the Garda Extradition Unit attached to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI).
Gardai have confirmed that Gibney is currently being held in a garda station in Dublin and will appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice later this morning.
In a statement, a garda spokesperson said: "Following an extradition from the United States of America at the request of the Irish authorities, a male (70s) was arrested by Gardaí attached to the Garda National Protective Services Bureau this morning, Tuesday 22nd July 2025 and is being brought before a sitting at the Criminal Courts of Justice at approximately 10:30am.
"The man is currently being detained at a Garda Station in Dublin."
Gibney was the alleged victims' coach and they were aged between eight and 14 at the time, according to the documents filed with a US district court.
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The court filings say the four women made complaints to gardaí between 2020 and 2022. The complaints came after the BBC podcast Where is George Gibney? re-examined the story of the Olympic coach who was charged with child sexual abuse but never stood trial.
In 1993, the former coach at the Trojan swimming club in Dublin faced 27 charges of indecency against young swimmers. However, the prosecution was successfully halted. His lawyers argued there was a delay in the prosecutions being taken and a lack of precision defining the specific alleged incidents.
This legal challenge ended up in the Supreme Court which ruled in his favour. The charges that Gibney is now facing are in relation to different instances of alleged abuse than the charges in 1993.
Following the case over 30 years ago, the former swimming coach left Ireland and spent some time in Scotland before moving to the US, where he has been living since.
An investigation was then reopened by gardaí following the 2020 BBC podcast documentary and a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions three years later.
Last year, the DPP decided he should face charges in connection with allegedly abusing children that were in his care when he was a swimming coach. Gardaí then secured an extradition warrant in the High Court and it's understood they have been working with US authorities for the last six months.
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