Former swimming coach to be extradited over abuse charges
BBCFormer Irish national swimming coach George Gibney, who is wanted in the Republic of Ireland to face historical sexual abuse charges, is to be extradited there, a court in the United States has ruled.
A US district magistrate made the order at a hearing in Orlando, Florida, on Friday.
The Irish government has sought Mr Gibney's return to face 78 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape against four girls aged between eight and 14 at the time of the alleged offences.
Mr Gibney had consented to his extradition and asked the court to expedite his departure to Ireland.
He left Ireland more than 30 years ago and has not been back since.
Mr Gibney was arrested in Florida by US Marshals at the start of this month.
He has been remanded in the custody of the US Marshals at Orange County Jail, pending arrangements being made to transport him to Ireland.
Mr Gibney sat in a wheelchair in the courtroom and was dressed in a uniform issued by Orange County Jail, Irish national broadcaster RTE said..
The judge asked Mr Gibney a series of questions about the affidavit he signed giving up his right to contest his detention and his right to contest the extradition request.
Mr Gibney replied "yes" to the questions.
It was previously reported that gardaí (Irish police) reopened an investigation into Mr Gibney after a number of people made allegations against him on the BBC podcast Where is George Gibney? five years ago.
The criminal investigation was commenced in 2020 by a specialist team within the Garda National Protective Services Bureau.
A file was sent to the Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP) three years later.
The DPP examined the file and recommended that Mr Gibney was charged.