Ex-Ireland coach jailed for 15.5 years for child abuse

MOSCOW, October 12 - RIA Novosti. Former Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney has been sentenced at Dublin Central Criminal Court to 15 years and six months in prison for sexual abuse of underage athletes, The Guardian reports.

Gibney, 78, was found guilty in July of 39 counts of indecent exposure and one count of attempted rape. The crimes were committed in the 1970s and 1980s against four underage girls.

Judge Michelle O'Higgins described Gibney as a "manipulative predator" who ingratiated himself with the children in his care. He added that Gibney once enjoyed an impeccable reputation and that the sentence reflected the gravity of the crime he committed. "He has fallen from these heights and his reputation is now in ruins," the judge said.

Gibney coached Ireland at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics. He was charged with 27 child sex offenses in the 1990s, but in 1993 the Irish Supreme Court ruled that he could not stand trial due to the length of time that had elapsed since the alleged offences. Gibney later left Ireland and moved to the United States, where he lived in Colorado, California and Florida, doing mostly low-skilled work.