US group wants Gibney deported

A US child-protection group is campaigning for the deportation of an Irish swimming coach who fled to the US in 1994 after a number of sex abuse charges against him were dropped.

ChildAbuseWatch has begun distributing leaflets around the area in Florida where George Gibney lives. The leaflets warn parents to keep children away from the former Olympic and national swimming coach.

In 1994, the High Court accepted legal argument by Gibney that the incidents which led to 27 charges of sexual abuse, including statutory rape, had happened too long ago for him to be able to defend himself. Following the collapse of his trial he initially went to Scotland before moving to the US, where he took on a number of jobs including receptionist at an exclusive hotel. He has been living in Florida for some years and, according to media reports, bought a home 100 yards from a community swimming pool.

Since his departure from Ireland there have been further allegations of sexual abuse from four complainants but although files have been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, no extradition was sought.

Last November a woman approached gardaí with new allegations that Gibney molested her as a child.

According to the Sunday Times, ChildAbuseWatch is seeking his deportation over an alleged breach of immigration laws. It believes he did not reveal his alleged past when entering the US.

“Anyone applying to get into the US has to fill in a form which specifically asks if you’ve ever been arrested or accused of a crime,” said the agency’s Sligo-born founder Evin Daly.