FBI arrest leads to maximum 90-year sentence for gymnastics coach who recorded minors at Mississippi gym

Sean Gardner, a former youth gymnastics coach, was sentenced to 90 years in prison on Wednesday, the maximum term U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson could impose. The sentence follows his guilty pleas to three federal charges of child pornography production, for which he must serve 30 years for each count. The court ordered him to serve the terms consecutively, resulting in the total 90-year span.

Gardner was arrested by the FBI last summer, an event first reported by the Associated Press. The charges have intensified scrutiny of safety measures in U.S. gymnastics, a sport already grappling with the fallout from the conviction of Larry Nassar. Nassar was found guilty of sexually assaulting at least 265 young women and girls over a 22-year period, a timeline that included many Olympic and U.S. women’s national gymnasts.

The federal case against Gardner centers on a hidden camera he placed in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi. Between December 2017 and April 2018, he used the device to record young female students undressing and using the bathroom. Investigators later discovered videos on his computers containing close-up images of at least 10 minors naked or undressing. The discovery occurred during an investigation into separate claims that Gardner was sexually abusing gymnasts in Iowa.

Those Iowa allegations originated from former students at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines. In police reports and civil lawsuits, these women claimed Gardner used his position as a key coach to prey on them. Chow’s Gymnastics was founded by Liang "Chow" Qiao, a coach known for developing Olympic talent. While Gardner has not yet been charged in connection with the Iowa claims, authorities indicated they are waiting for the results of the federal case before determining how to proceed.

Some of the women involved in the federal case stated that USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport were notified of Gardner's behavior in 2017. They claim these organizations failed to take action to remove him from the sport for years. In 2022, following a sexual abuse accusation from a gymnast at Chow’s, Gardner was suspended and subsequently fired. SafeSport conducted its own investigation at that time and found that Chow and other coaches were aware of the misconduct allegations but failed to report them to SafeSport, a requirement under their policy.

Lawsuits against Gardner, USA Gymnastics, and Chow’s Gymnastics remain active. The Associated Press contributed to this report.