Gymnastics coach who recorded girls in bathroom gets 90 years

Key points

• Sean Gardner, 39, was sentenced to 90 years in prison for secretly recording young female gymnasts in a Mississippi gym bathroom.
• Judge Kristi Johnson gave him 30 years on each of three federal child pornography production charges, likely a life sentence.
• Former students in Iowa and Mississippi have accused Gardner of sexual abuse, and lawsuits claim USA Gymnastics and SafeSport failed to act on warnings.

A former prominent youth gymnastics coach was sentenced Wednesday to 90 years in prison for secretly recording his young female students undressing and using the bathroom at a Mississippi gym. U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson gave Sean Gardner the maximum sentence, ordering him to serve 30 years for each of three federal child pornography production charges to which he pleaded guilty. The sentence likely means life in prison for Gardner, 39.

Gardner was arrested last summer by the FBI. His case renewed questions about whether U.S. gymnastics authorities had done enough to protect athletes from sexual abuse by an influential coach.

What investigators found

Gardner pleaded guilty to placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi, between December 2017 and April 2018. Investigators said he created videos showing close-up images of at least 10 minors naked or undressing. The videos were recovered from his computers years later during an investigation into claims he sexually abused gymnasts in Iowa.

An FBI affidavit said investigators seized about 50 videos and 400 photos from Gardner's residence. In one video, Gardner is allegedly seen turning off the camera.

It was so normalized. I don't think any of us thought anything of it.

— Liberty Raines, former student

Allegations in Iowa

Several former students at Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, have told police and said in civil lawsuits that Gardner used his position to prey on them. Gardner moved to the Iowa gym in 2018 and coached Finley Weldon, an 11-year-old with Olympic aspirations. Weldon told CBS News last year that Gardner acted weird from the start, made inappropriate jokes and asked teen girls about their sex lives. She said he touched her inappropriately while stretching and spotting her.

Gardner has not been charged over the Iowa allegations. Police have said they would wait to decide how to proceed after the federal case concludes. The lawsuits claim USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport were told about Gardner's inappropriate behavior in 2017 but failed to remove him for years. SafeSport temporarily suspended him in 2022 after a Chow's gymnast alleged sexual abuse, and Chow's fired him then. SafeSport said its investigation found that Chow and other coaches knew of the allegations but failed to report them as required.