Gibney Finally Arrested In U.S. - Wanted In Ireland On More Than 50 Historical Sex-Abuse Charges
A criminal investigation began in 2020 and in 2023, Ireland's Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) recommended that Gibney be charged with more than 50 alleged offences. Irish police have now been working with Florida police authorities for around six months
One of the longest-running unresolved sex-abuse cases in swimming has finally taken a turn towards justice being done: former Irish swim coach George Gibney has been arrested in Florida and faces extradition 30 years after he left Ireland.
An extradition warrant from the Republic of Ireland is now being processed after Gibney was arrested in Florida on Tuesday afternoon by US Marshals, according to Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
Gibney, now in his 70s and a coach at Trojan swimming club in Dublin in the 1980s and early 1990s, served as Ireland's national swimming coach.
He is wanted on 50 historical counts of sexual abuse. Some of those cases and the culture said to have accompanied them were highlighted in the excellent work of Justine McCarthy in her 2010 book "Deep Deception", available at major bookstores, and online international vendors. The work charts what it calls the relentless investigation to bring George Gibney, Derry O’Rourke, Ger Doyle and other abusers to justice inmates Ireland's swimming scandals:
Justine McCarthy
Investigations included the podcast "Where is George Gibney?" by Mark Horgan and team, which is available for listeners in the UK on BBC Sounds, but for hose who can no longer access BBC Sounds from this summer as the broadcaster turns that service off for the overseas community of BBC listeners and directs them to online services that appear to only have 'live' listening possibilities for some services, the podcast can also be accessed at IMDB.
Gibney is now being detained in Florida pending a court appearance, at which he can accept of contest the extradition request.
In a statement to BBC News Northern Ireland, An Garda Síochána (Irish police) said it is "aware of the arrest of a male aged in his 70s in the United States on foot of an Irish international arrest warrant. As this is currently a matter for the US authorities, An Garda Síochána will not be commenting further at this time."
RTÉ notes that Ireland's gardaí reopened an investigation into Gibney after a number of people made allegations against him on the Where is George Gibney? podcast five years ago.
A criminal investigation began in 2020 by a specialist team within the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, and a file was sent to the Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2023.
After examining the files, the DPP recommended that Mr Gibney be charged with more than 50 alleged offences. A High Court ruling granted An Garda Síochána an extradition warrant and gardaí have been working with authorities in Florida for more than six months.
The Gibney affair was cited by critics of U.S. authorities in campaigns to end sexual abuse in the sports of swimming in the United States. Here is a reminder of some of the reasons why that is relevant in the round of ensuring the mistakes of the past are never repeated. The central question is clear: on the trail of historical abuse, some case dating back to the 1970s and yet never resolved despite the fact that the parties concerned live in the United States, why have authorities all too often only acted in response to media investigations and why does it take decades and decades of trauma before those relevant authorities, in sport and justice systems trigger what they could and should have triggered a very long time ago?
Here's a reminder of a Vortex exclusive in which we reveal that USA Swimming had been handed what amounted to a manifesto of Safe Sport in 1991 but failed to adopt key recommendations for almost 20 years.
Extracts from The Vortex - SOS Safe Sport Series Archive of 17 investigative features first published as a compilation in 2018:
