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Former Irish national swimming coach guilty of sex abuse

News imageBBC/Mark Horgan A man with thinning hair, glasses, a blue shirt, and a green fleece walks across a car park. He looks down at the groundBBC/Mark Horgan
George Gibney left Ireland more than 30 years ago

A former Irish national swimming coach has been convicted of sexually abusing four young female athletes and the attempted rape of one of the girls in the 1970s and 1980s.

The jury in 77-year-old George Gibney's deliberated for more than seven hours before returning a to give its verdict's on Monday afternoon.

He had been charged with 79 counts but pleaded guilty to five of them at the beginning of the trial at Central Criminal Court.

Irish national broadcaster RTÉ reported Gibney pleaded not guilty to 73 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape of four girls in the 1970s and 1980s.

The jury found him guilty of 39 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape.

Jurors were directed to return not guilty verdicts on 33 counts relating to two complainants.

The judge remanded Gibney in custody. He will be sentenced on 29 July.

RTÉ reported that after the verdicts the women hugged their friends, supporters and gardaí (Irish police).

Extradition

Gibney was extradited from the United States of America (USA) to the Republic of Ireland last year to face historical sexual abuse charges.

The Irish government sought Gibney's return to face 78 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape against four girls aged between eight and 14 at the time of the alleged offences.

Before his extradition, Gibney had not been back to Ireland in over 30 years.

News imageA screengrab of BBC Archive footage of Gibney. He has thick brown hair, thin rimmed glasses and a beard. He wears a white shirt.
Pictured in 1987 being interviewed about the The Irish National Championships

He was arrested in Florida by US Marshals in July 2025.

It was previously reported that gardaí reopened an investigation into Gibney after a number of people made allegations against him on the BBC podcast Where is George Gibney? six years ago.

The criminal investigation was commenced in 2020 by a specialist team within the Garda National Protective Services Bureau.

A file was sent to the Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) three years later.

The DPP examined the file and recommended that Gibney was charged.