George Gibney, the Irish swim coach charged with 78 charges of sexual assault and one charge of attempted rape in Ireland, has withdrawn his request for a detention hearing and waived his right to an extradition hearing.
Dublin native Gibney, who is now in his 70s, was arrested on July 1 in Orlando, Florida, where he has been living since 1995.
Documents filed this week in the Orlando Division of the US District Court's Middle District of Florida say that on Tuesday, July 8, Gibney met with his federal defender Aisha Nash, who advised him of his rights in an extradition proceeding, his right to a detention hearing, and his right to an extradition hearing.
Gibney "has decided to withdraw his request to a detention hearing and stipulate to detention," the documents say.
"Likewise, Mr. Gibney advised counsel he wants to waive his extradition hearing and be extradited to Ireland."
Gibney signed his affidavit of waiver of extradition hearing on Wednesday, July 9.
Judge Daniel C Irick subsequently ordered that Gibney be committed to the custody of the US Marshal, who will deliver Gibney to a representative of the Irish Government to be transported back to Ireland to be held for trial.
The Irish Government had been seeking Gibney's extradition from the US back to Ireland, where the former swim coach faces dozens of sexual abuse charges.
On June 24, the US filed a complaint in the Orlando Division of the US District Court's Middle District of Florida, seeking a warrant for Gibney’s arrest.
The warrant was executed on July 1, and Gibney, who was considered a flight risk and danger to the community, was placed in the custody of the US Marshals Service.
Gibney "faces the real prospect of spending the remainder of his life in jail," one court document, arguing against bail, says.
The criminal complaint signed by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda S. Daniels on June 24 states that in June 2023, the Dublin Metropolitan District Court issued 79 warrants for Gibney's arrest, one for each of the charged offenses.
The complaint says that the former swimming coach for Ireland’s National and Olympic Teams is charged with sexually abusing four girls, and attempting to rape one of the girls, between 1971 and 1981.
The four victims, anonymized as LHU, AAK, EH, and OP, were all swimmers whom Gibney coached in Dublin at the time of the alleged sexual abuse. Two of the victims, LHU and AAK, are sisters.
The victims were between the ages of eight and 15 when Gibney purportedly abused them.
All of the alleged incidents happened at various locations in Dublin.
The complaint notes that the four victims made their complaints about Gibney to An Garda Síochána between 2020 and 2022, after the BBC podcast "Where is George Gibney?" aired in 2020.
Previous complaints against George Gibney
The complaint notes that other complaints of sexual abuse were made against Gibney in Ireland in or around 1992.
"Some of these previous complaints were the subject of an order of prohibition by way of judicial review proceeding before the Irish Courts on the basis of delay," the complaint says.
"Since that ruling, the law in Ireland has changed significantly in relation to prohibition. The allegations made by the six complainants in the prior case have not been included in the instant matter."
The four victims in the current case were not part of the prior proceedings.
Court documents say Ireland previously sought Gibney's cooperation with their investigation and consent to a voluntary interview, via an Interpol request. In June 2021, a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement met and spoke with Gibney, who ultimately refused to engage with An Garda Síochána and declined to consent to a voluntary interview.
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