The arrest of a former elite gymnastics coach on federal child pornography charges is raising questions about how abuse is reported and handled in youth sports, nearly a decade after the Larry Nassar scandal shook U.S. gymnastics.
Federal agents last week arrested Sean Michael Gardner, 38, after investigators said they uncovered hundreds of illicit images and videos of underage girls.
Many of the images were recorded with a hidden bathroom camera at a Mississippi gym where he once worked, according to AP News.
According to sealed court documents, investigators confiscated handwritten notes exchanged between Gardner and his former pupils, along with a cellphone, laptop, and desktop computer, FOX News Digital reports.
Court records alleged that Gardner sexually abused gymnasts he trained at the renowned Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in Des Moines, Iowa.
It’s the same academy that produced Olympic champions Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas.
The charges come more than three years after student athletes first reported Gardner to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a congressionally-chartered nonprofit watchdog organization created in the wake of the Nassar case, to investigate misconduct in Olympic sports.
In March 2022, a gymnast told SafeSport that Gardner repeatedly groped her under the guise of spotting during training between 2018 and 2020.
Another gymnast later accused him of similar abuse, including dragging her across the gym floor so forcefully it caused burns.
SafeSport placed Gardner under temporary suspension, but the criminal case faltered when victims chose not to proceed.
The investigation remained dormant until April 2024, when a third gymnast reported abuse to West Des Moines police, reviving the case and prompting a search of Gardner’s home.
Investigators said the seized devices contained explicit material involving girls between 6 and 14 years old, much of it filmed at Jump’In Gymnastics & Tumbling in Purvis, Mississippi, where Gardner coached before moving to Iowa.
According to WDAM, authorities believe Gardner targeted athletes across multiple gyms over nearly two decades:
• 2004–2014: Athletes in Motion, Prairieville, La.
• 2014–2018: Jump’In Gymnastics & Tumbling, Purvis, Miss.
• 2018–2022: Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance, Des Moines, Iowa
Child safety advocates said the case underscores the fragility of trust in youth sports.
“When that trust is broken, the impact is devastating—not only for the child, but for the entire community,” said Amber Zylstra, president of Prevent Child Abuse Iowa.
Law enforcement officials emphasized the importance of victims reporting abuse, according to CBS 8 Des Moines.
“We don’t want victims to feel like they have to stand alone on something like this, but we can’t act without them contacting law enforcement,” said Sgt. Jason Wade of the West Des Moines police.
Gardner made his initial appearance Friday in federal court in Des Moines on a charge of producing child sexual abuse material, an offense punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
He is being held at the Polk County Jail in Iowa pending transfer to the Southern District of Mississippi for further proceedings.
The FBI is urging anyone who may have been victimized by Gardner or who has relevant information about his coaching history to contact investigators through a secure online tip form.
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[Feature Photo: Sean Michael Gardner/Polk County Sheriff’s Office]
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Author: Kim Leigh Martin, President, Missing Pieces Network
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