Irish Former Swim Coach George Gibney Jailed for 15 and a Half Years for Sexual Abuse
Irish former coach George Gibney has been sentenced to 15 and a half years for sexually abusing girls in the 1970s and 1980s.
In July, a jury found him guilty of 39 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape.
Judge Micheál P O’Higgin called Gibney a “manipulative predator,” who had ingratiated himself with the children under his care.
“It was predatory in nature and a gross breach of trust,” he said. “He used his coaching role to access and assault defenceless children under his care.”
Speaking to reporters outside the court, survivor Orla Poole said she had spent “decades in silence” because of his actions. “I thought I was the only one, that somehow, I deserved what he did to me.”
She added: “The only guilt for what we went through lies with the convicted paedophile. When you are ready and able, unburden yourself by talking to someone from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, One In Four, a therapist, a trusted friend or even the gardaí.”
Gibney founded the Trojan club in south Dublin and coached emerging talent at pools around the Irish capital. He was also the national Olympic coach at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988 during a tenure that lasted from 1984-91.
However, allegations of abuse emerged and Gibney faced criminal charges of indecency involving swimmers in 1993. But the prosecution was interrupted by judicial review given the time since the alleged offences, and Gibney fled the country while appeals were made. He was investigated again in the late 1990s without charges being brought.
A BBC documentary in 2020 brought new light to the case, with victims coming forward for the first time. It pressured the Garda – the national police and security service of the Republic of Ireland – to reopen investigations, leading to the charges that resulted in the convictions in July.
