Latest news with #TrojanSwimmingClub
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
George Gibney to appear in court in US next week following arrest
Former Olympic swimming coach George Gibney is due to appear in a United States court next week after being arrested over alleged historical sexual abuse in Ireland. Gibney, who is in his 70s, was arrested on Tuesday after a Garda request was made to the US State Department to extradite him to Ireland to face more than 50 charges relating to alleged historical child sex abuse. A Garda investigation into several fresh allegations that Gibney sexually abused children in his care as a swimming coach several decades ago has been ongoing. It is understood gardaí submitted the extradition request to US authorities late last year. He was taken into custody in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday by US authorities, with court records showing Gibney subsequently submitted a financial affidavit before being granted a federal public defender as his attorney by federal magistrate judge Daniel Irick. READ MORE Following Gibney's arrest, Judge Irick granted an order of temporary detention and scheduled a detention hearing for next Friday at 10am local time. Gardaí spent several months preparing the paperwork for the extradition request, following a renewed criminal investigation into allegations that Gibney abused multiple children when he was a swimming coach in Ireland. Gibney was a well-known coach at the Trojan swimming club in Dublin during the 1980s and 1990s, before abuse revelations emerged publicly. He previously faced criminal charges in 1993, appearing before Dún Laoghaire District Court charged with 27 counts of indecency against young swimmers and of having carnal knowledge of girls under the age of 15. However, he successfully halted that prosecution by taking a judicial review, where his lawyers argued there was a delay in the offences coming to court and a lack of precision in defining specific alleged incidents. The legal challenge ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favour. Gibney fled Ireland afterwards, spending time in Scotland before moving to the US.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
George Gibney arrested in US on foot of extradition request
Former Olympic swimming coach George Gibney has been arrested in the United States on foot of a Garda request to extradite him to Ireland, as part of an investigation into historical child sexual abuse. Gardaí have been investigating a number of fresh allegations that Gibney sexually abused children in his care as a swimming coach decades ago. A request was made by the Garda to the US State Department to extradite Gibney to Ireland for questioning over alleged historical sex abuse. Gardaí spent several months preparing the paperwork for the extradition request, following a renewed criminal investigation into allegations Gibney abused multiple children when he was a swimming coach in Ireland. US authorities informed Garda Headquarters that they have taken Gibney into custody on foot of the extradition request, according to Garda sources. READ MORE Gibney was a well-known coach at Trojan swimming club in Dublin during the 1980s and 1990s, before abuse revelations emerged publicly. Gibney previously faced criminal charges in 1993, appearing before Dún Laoghaire District Court charged with 27 counts of indecency against young swimmers and of having carnal knowledge of girls under the age of 15. However, he successfully halted the prosecution by taking a judicial review, where his lawyers argued there was a delay in the offences coming to court and a lack of precision in defining specific alleged incidents. The legal challenge ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favour. Gibney fled Ireland afterwards, spending time in Scotland before moving to the US. Now in his 70s, he has been living near Orlando, Florida, for several years. A 2020 podcast documentary by BBC Sounds and Second Captains, entitled Where Is George Gibney? , re-examined the controversy and prompted more than a dozen new alleged victims of the swimming coach to come forward. When confronted by the makers of the podcast in a suburb of Orlando where he lived, he refused to respond to questions about the sexual abuse allegations. A number of the alleged abuse victims who came forward following the documentary made criminal complaints to An Garda Síochána, who at the time had already opened a fresh investigation into alleged historical abuse by Gibney. Following that renewed investigation a file was submitted by gardaí to the Director of Public Prosecutions in 2023. The new case relates to different instances of alleged abuse to those Gibney was previously charged with in the 1990s. It is understood gardaí submitted the extradition request to US authorities late last year, at which point it became a matter for US officials to review and process the paperwork and then carry out the arrest.
