George Gibney Faces US Court in Extradition Hearing
Former Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney, who was arrested in the US on Tuesday, will appear before a US court on July 11 to either fight or accede to extradition to Ireland.
Mr Gibney, who is now in his 70s, is facing a total of 79 charges relating to historical sex abuse allegations. Of these, 78 are for indecent assault while one is for attempted rape, court documents filed at the District Court of Orlando, Florida, have shown.
These charges relate to allegations made by four girls. They were all aged between eight and 15 at the time and were being coached by Gibney at the time of the alleged abuse. Gibney remains in custody in the US.
Speaking yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin praised the cooperation of members of the gardaí with the US justice system. The allegations regarding Gibney were highlighted in a BBC podcast which was released over five years ago.
The Garda National Protective Services Bureau has been working on a case following the release of the podcast. After compiling a file, the DPP recommended that he be charged with over 50 historical sexual abuse offences.
The Taoiseach told reporters in Japan, according to RTÉ: ‘I think we all listened to the podcast. I think it’s important that we have an agreement with the US. Gardaí have been working very diligently and in a detailed way, I have no doubt. We will await the next step now.’
Mr Gibney served as an Olympic swimming coach in Dublin during the 1980s and 1990s, but he stepped back from the sport following a host of allegations of sexual abuse levelled against him by both male and female swimmers.
He had previously appeared before Dún Laoghaire District Court in April 1993, charged with 27 counts of indecency against young swimmers. He was also charged with ‘having carnal knowledge’ of girls under the age of 15.
He managed to stop the prosecution by taking a judicial review, where his legal team argued there was a delay in the offences coming to court. The case eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, which then ruled in Mr Gibney’s favour.
It was then that he left for the US. BBC Sounds and Second Captains produced the podcast series entitled Where is George Gibney?, in which many of Mr Gibney’s alleged victims came forward to deliver harrowing testimonies about their experiences. This included 18 new people who had never spoken publicly about the alleged abuse before.
‘What was striking was that no men had come forward,’ creator of the podcast, Mark Horgan, said. ‘There is still a stigma about men who were involved in historic sex abuse cases coming forward. ‘We know George Gibney abused boys. I think it’s positive for men to know that they’ll be believed in Ireland and they’re going to be heard too.’
Mr Horgan also said that the goal of the podcast was not to get another trial or the extradition of Mr Gibney, who left the country following a failed prosecution in the Nineties.
‘The aim was never to get another trial for extradition, the aim was to get the story told to as many people as possible,’ he said. ‘Perpetrators of abuse want these stories to remain in the dark and for parents not to be aware, and for survivors to stay silent.
‘So when we started it was just to get as many people as possible to learn about the stories of George Gibney and for survivors to have their voices heard,’ he told RTÉ.
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