Olympic Swim Coach George Gibney Arrested on Sex Abuse Charges
Former Olympic swimming coach George Gibney has been arrested in the United States with a request to extradite him to Ireland to face charges of sexual abuse of children.
The arrest by U.S. Marshals on Tuesday came with an extradition request from the Irish national police force, Garda. Its Protective Services Bureau, which specializes in cases of sexual abuse, has been investigating new allegations into Gibney’s conduct as a swim coach dating back decades. Reports indicate that he faces up to 50 charges related to historical child sex abuse.
Gibney was arrested in Florida, where he has been living for several years.
Gibney coached at Trojan Swim Club in Dublin during the 1980s and 1990s and for the Irish national team from 1984-91. He faced criminal charges in Dun Laoghaire District Court in 1993 of 27 counts of indecency against swimmers. The prosecution was halted by a judicial review over whether the length of time since the allegations allowed Gibney to mount a proper defense. The challenge reached the Irish Supreme Court, during which time Gibney fled Ireland, living first in Scotland and then the United States.
Garda was unsuccessful in bringing charges after a second investigation in 1997. Gibney has lived abroad for more than 30 years under the threat of prosecution.
A documentary by the BBC in 2020 titled, “Where is George Gibney?” investigate the case in the early 1990s as well as new allegations, some of which are alleged to have occurred while Gibney was coaching in the United States. That led Garda to open a new investigation. Its work was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions in 2023, which recommended the filing of more than 50 charges.
Gibney will face a hearing in the United States, which will then rule on the extradition request.