George Gibney due back before court for sentencing hearing

Former Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney is due back before the Central Criminal Court today following his conviction for sexually abusing four girls about 50 years ago.The 77-year-old’s sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin at 2pm.A jury earlier this month found him guilty of 39 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape on dates between 1971 and 1981 at various locations, including at two swimming pools in south Co Dublin. The attempted rape took place in a changing room at Newpark Sports Centre in Blackrock, Dublin.The girls were aged between eight and 13 when they were abused by the coach. As women hearing the guilty verdicts, they cried and hugged their supporters.READ MOREThe trial heard Gibney gave some of the girls lifts to swimming classes and abused them in his car. Further abuse of two sisters happened in his home when they were babysitting his children.The assaults included kissing, inappropriate touching, digital penetration and forced oral sex. Gibney, who attended his trial in a wheelchair, had been charged with 79 counts. At the outset of the trial he pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault, while the judge dismissed 33 charges after the prosecution’s evidence was heard. The jury acquitted Gibney of one indecent assault count. Due to the nature of the charges, Gibney was described as a sports coach in media reports during the trial. He was a high-profile figure in Irish swimming from the 1970s to the 1990s. [ George Gibney faces justice after 50 years of evasionOpens in new window ]He had been charged with counts of indecent assault in 1993, but this prosecution was halted by the Supreme Court on foot of a challenge by Gibney. Gibney moved abroad after the prosecution collapsed, fleeing first to a swimming club in Edinburgh, Scotland, and then to the United States, where he moved to Colorado initially before finally settling in Orlando, Florida.Gibney was extradited from the US last year after four new complainants came forward to gardaí in the wake of a 10-part podcast made by Second Captains in partnership with the BBC.