Former Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney has been sentenced to 16 years and eight months, with the final 14 months of the prison term suspended, after being found guilty of indecently assaulting four girls and attempting to rape one of them.
Gibney, 78, was found guilty of indecently assaulting the four girls and the attempted rape of one of the girls in a changing room when she was 12.
He had pleaded guilty to five charges of indecently assaulting a girl in Ireland in 1976, but denied dozens of other charges of indecently assaulting the girls when they were aged between eight and 15, at various locations between 1974 and 1981.
Earlier this year, a jury returned guilty verdicts on 40 charges relating to incidents in the 1970s and 1980s.
Gibney, who was arrested on foot of an Irish extradition warrant in Florida least year, had lived in the US for years.
At the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday, Judge Michael O’Higgins sentenced him to 16 years and eight months with the final 14 months suspended.
Waiving her anonymity, one of the victims Orla Poole told reporters: “In an ideal world, no child should have to deal with abuse; sexual, physical, psychological or otherwise.
“Grooming, manipulation and deception are oftentimes difficult to identify but are the hallmark of a paedophile.
“This is especially so in highly competitive sporting mentor/coach situations, where young immature, vulnerable and naive persons are dependent on the adult to show the way and do the right thing.”
Ms Poole thanked lawyers, gardaí and victims organisations for their support, adding: “I spent decades in silence because of his perverted behaviours.”
She said she did not think she would be believed but said this is “no longer the case in Ireland” and there are organisations who will listen and act.
“The times of sweeping things under the rug, turning a blind eye, or holding that children should be seen and not heard are gone.”
Ms Poole appealed for survivors to “speak when you are ready” and “reclaim your agency”, adding: “You will be heard and believed.”
Some of the offending in the case involved forced oral sex and digital penetration and continued over a lengthy period of time.
In at least once instance, Gibney also directed words of a humiliating and degrading character at a child victim.
There were tears and hugs as victims and their relatives embraced following the sentencing.
Gibney, wearing a red jacket, glasses and grey sweatpants, was taken out of the courtroom following the decision.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said he was sentencing the defendant for “grave” and “predatory” offences which were part of “systemic offending” which “violated the rights of young children”.
He said the offending involved a “gross abuse” of the defendant’s “position of authority as a swimming coach”, which he used to access and assault “defenceless children in his care”.
The judge explained that the maximum sentence for each of the indecent assaults, notwithstanding their gravity, was two years as that was set out in legislation at the time of the offence.
He said people may find this “surprising and – bluntly – inadequate” and that such offences would likely be charged as rape today.
The judge said the aggravating factors in the case included the wider “repeated and systemic” nature of offending over a lengthy period for four separate young victims.
He said the offending was at times “opportunistic” but also involved many instances of grooming and premeditation.
He said the nature of the repeated offending meant recovering from earlier instances was increasingly difficult.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said the “repulsive crimes” had lasting consequences on the victims, impacting virtually all aspects of their life including their wellbeing, confidence, mental health and relationships with family and future partners.
In considering “limited” mitigation, the judge noted Gibney was 78, “in failing health” and would be entering prison for the first time at an advanced age.
He said he had no previous convictions, the offending occurred more than 50 years ago, he had co-operated with the trial and had “good conduct” in custody.
The judge said Gibney had been a skilled swimming coach of national and international renown but added: “From those heights he has fallen and his reputation now lies in tatters.”
Mr Justice O’Higgins said he hoped it was some solace for his victim that Gibney had indicated he accepts the verdicts and would not appeal.
The judge set a headline sentence of 12 years for the attempted rape, reduced to a net sentence of 10 years following mitigation.
Considering all the indecent assault charges as “grievous violations” involving a “manipulative predator on defenceless young children”, he set the maximum sentence as a headline – reduced to a net 20 months following mitigation.
He gave a total of six years and eight months for the indecent assaults, to run consecutively to the attempted rape.
This gave an aggregate sentence of 16 years and eight months before he suspended the final 14 months “on strict terms”.
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