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by Irvin Muchnick<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dennis Goodwin, Colorado’s child protection ombudsman, today told us he decided not to seek from the Arvada police the 1995 report on George Gibney, which the department had summarized for us but not released in its original form. (The full background is in last Wednesday’s post<\/a>.)<\/p>\n While I make a regular practice of grilling public officials over transparency, in this case I can’t really quarrel with Goodwin’s decision, which he explained in an email:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “After much consideration and discussion, it is our opinion that using the Ombudsman statutory authority to obtain this record and then release a statement regarding its content is prohibited. Even for the limited purpose you have proposed, it is still prohibited by federal statute, state statute and the Child Protection rules approved in February of 2015. Over my career, I have worked with the Arvada Police for 34 years and have found them to be a very professional and ethical department.”<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This leaves us with a tough road to hoe – convincing a Colorado court that a customarily sealed document should be released because of an overriding public interest – and today I am doubtful that Concussion Inc. will pursue the litigation option. The Arvada police did indeed conduct themselves professionally in telling us, in broad terms and in some specific ones, what was in the report. Thoroughness compelled us to want to inspect the document ourselves, or to get someone with statutory authority, along with a measure of independence, to give us second-hand reassurance. However, the promised returns seem marginal.<\/p>\n What would<\/em> be additionally helpful – though neither the Arvada nor nearby Wheat Ridge police are going in this direction, apparently – would be for them to reach out to the now-retired police officers who handled the local Gibney investigations at the time: Sergeant Jo Ann Rzeppa in Arvada and Detective Lila Cohen in Wheat Ridge. Of the two, Cohen is probably the more important, since the Wheat Ridge police have said there was, along with Cohen’s report from 2000 (which we received and published), one from two years earlier that got destroyed when old records were cleaned out.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, our more important federal Freedom of Information Act request, to the Department of Homeland Security for Gibney’s visa and green card files, remains on track, according to an official at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Within the next month,we should either have acquired those records or face a clear opportunity to argue in federal court that the public interest, in both the U.S. and Ireland, demands their release.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE SERIES SO FAR:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\nWhy Is George Gibney – No. 1 At-Large Pedophile in Global Sports – Living in Florida? And Who Sponsored His Green Card?<\/a><\/h2>\n
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Offers Confused Initial Response to FOIA Request For Rapist Irish Coach George Gibney’s Visa and Green Card Files<\/a><\/h2>\n
Senator Feinstein Leads Congressional Group Assisting Concussion Inc. in FOIA Request For Former Irish Coach George Gibney’s U.S. Immigration Records<\/a><\/h2>\n
How Former USA Swimming President Dale Neuburger Responded To an American Court To Questions About Rapist Irish Coach George Gibney – Now Living in Florida With a Green Card<\/a><\/h2>\n
Rapist Irish National Coach George Gibney in Colorado in 2000 – Coached For USA Swimming Club, Claimed To Be on Board of At-Risk Youth Center, Traveled to Peru With a Priest<\/a><\/h2>\n
Colorado Police Confirm Basics of Concussion Inc.’s George Gibney Reporting; Questions Persist on USA Swimming’s Cover-Up Role<\/a><\/h2>\n
Archdiocese of Denver ‘No Comments’ Irish Coach George Gibney – Plus Other New Notes on USA Swimming’s Cover-Up<\/a><\/h2>\n
George Gibney’s USA Swimming Club in Denver Claims ‘No First-Hand Knowledge’ of His Dismissal and Notice to Others in 2000<\/a><\/h2>\n
More Info on George Gibney at the USA Swimming Club in Denver, As Public Records Requests Escalate<\/a><\/h2>\n
What’s Ahead in the George Gibney \/ USA Swimming Investigation<\/a><\/h2>\n
BREAKING: Arvada (Colorado) Police Say George Gibney Left North Jeffco Swim Team As Early As 1995, Following Sexual Harassment Incident And Exposure of His Irish Past<\/a><\/h2>\n
“Alleged abuser Gibney’s green card queried” – Sunday Times of London, Irish Edition<\/a><\/h2>\n
George Gibney Swimming Abuse Cover-Up Featured Tonight on Irish TV<\/a><\/h2>\n
Here’s the 2000 Wheat Ridge (Colorado) Police Report on Rapist Irish National Team and USA Swimming Coach George Gibney<\/a><\/h2>\n
Member of Irish Parliament Calls on Government to Seek George Gibney’s Extradition From the U.S.<\/a><\/h2>\n
Tuesday Night Notes on the Exploding George Gibney \/ USA Swimming Story on Two Continents<\/a><\/h2>\n
See It Now – Irish Legislator O’Sullivan, Journalist McCarthy, Whistleblower Parent Discuss the Quest For George Gibney Justice on TV3’s ‘Tonight With Vincent Browne’<\/a><\/h2>\n
Wheat Ridge (Colorado) Police: We Destroyed 1998 Report on George Gibney<\/a><\/h2>\n
Status of Our Freedom of Information Act Request For George Gibney’s Immigration Files – Now Being Closely Watched in Both Ireland and U.S.<\/a><\/h2>\n
Link to Irish Times Story on Irish Parliament’s Maureen O’Sullivan’s Appeal For Extradition of George Gibney<\/a><\/h2>\n
What Complicates American Prosecution of Irish National Team and USA Swimming Coach George Gibney For His 1991 Rape on American Soil<\/a><\/h2>\n
Irish Times: Minister of Justice to Discuss Legislator’s Appeal For Extradition of George Gibney<\/a><\/h2>\n
Reprint of Sunday Times Article on Muchnick’s Freedom of Information Request For Rapist Irish and USA Swimming Coach George Gibney’s American Immigration Records<\/a><\/h2>\n
Roundup of New Media Coverage of Irish National Team and USA Swimming Rapist Coach George Gibney<\/a><\/h2>\n
Irish Legislator: George Gibney Prosecution Follow-Up Being Pursued in Both Ireland and U.S.<\/a><\/h2>\n
“Disgraced coach Gibney investigated in America” – Sunday Times of London<\/a><\/h2>\n
Irish Legislator Seeks Assistance on George Gibney From Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Jackie Speier<\/a><\/h2>\n
Reprint of Sunday Times Article on ConcussionInc.’s Reports of Investigations of George Gibney by Colorado Police<\/a><\/h2>\n