Home / Crime and Justice / Gymnast coach gets 90 years for hidden cameras
Gymnast coach gets 90 years for hidden cameras
15 Oct
Summary
- Coach Sean Gardner sentenced to 90 years for recording students undressing.
- FBI found 50 videos and 400 photos from Gardner's residence.
- Gymnastics authorities face scrutiny for not acting sooner.
A former prominent youth gymnastics coach, Sean Gardner, has been sentenced to 90 years in prison for secretly recording his young female students in Mississippi. U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson imposed the maximum sentence for three federal child pornography production charges, to which Gardner pleaded guilty. This sentence is equivalent to a life sentence for the 39-year-old.
The FBI's arrest of Gardner last summer brought renewed scrutiny to U.S. gymnastics authorities regarding their protection of athletes. Gardner admitted to placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at a Purvis, Mississippi, studio between December 2017 and April 2018, capturing at least 10 minors. Investigators recovered approximately 50 videos and 400 photos from his home while investigating separate abuse claims in Iowa.
Allegations of abuse also surfaced from former students at Chow's Gymnastics in Iowa, where Gardner coached. While not charged in Iowa, police are awaiting the conclusion of the federal case. Civil lawsuits against Gardner allege that USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport were aware of his behavior as early as 2017 but failed to act for years. SafeSport did suspend Gardner in 2022, and he was fired by Chow's then.
