An ex-coach at a famend Iowa youth gymnastics academy identified for producing high Olympians was arrested for having a trove of kid pornography years after he was accused of sexually assaulting a number of younger athletes.
Sean Gardner, 38, was busted by the FBI for producing baby pornography supplies after authorities raided his residence, discovering a whole bunch of pictures of kids, following an investigation into inappropriate contact with gymnasts at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines.
It’s believed Gardner “primarily focused youngsters” on the gyms in Iowa, Mississippi, and one in Louisiana, the place he labored for 10 years till 2014, the FBI instructed the Related Press Tuesday.
Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute beforehand educated Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas to Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012.
Investigators had been on the alleged creep gymnast coach’s path for years.
The West Des Moines Police started investigating Gardner in March 2022 after an Iowa gymnast reported his conduct at Chow’s to the US Middle for SafeSport, which oversees sex-abuse instances in Olympic sports activities.
The gymnast — a minor on the time — claimed Gardner would rub his arms in inappropriate locations whereas serving to younger feminine gymnasts apply routines, would ask them private questions like in the event that they have been sexually lively, and used sexually degrading language in the direction of them, calling them names like “idiots, sluts, and whores,” the Related Press reported.
In July 2022, 4 months after the gymnast’s report, the SafeSport database exhibits Gardner was suspended for “allegations of misconduct.”
Gardner was suspended from Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute following SafeSport’s suspension.
The sufferer selected to not prosecute, pausing the investigation till a second gymnast got here ahead with new allegations in April 2024.
The second sufferer claimed that she began taking classes from Gardner when she was 11 or 12 years previous in 2019 and considered him as a “father determine.”
She claimed Gardner had repeatedly touched her inappropriately throughout workout routines, made her carry out inappropriate stretches, which he recorded on his telephone, and mentioned his intercourse life along with her.
About 16 months after reporting his alleged disturbing habits, the West Des Moines Police Division obtained a warrant to go looking Gardner’s residence.
Legislation enforcement seized a number of digital units from Gardner’s residence in Might 2024, discovering a whole bunch of movies and pictures of ladies, ages 6 to 14, nude, altering, or utilizing the lavatory—believed to have been filmed on a hidden digital camera at Leap’In Gymnastics in Purvis, Mississippi, between 2017 and 2018, based on court docket paperwork obtained by the Related Press.
Handwritten notes between Gardner and his former college students have been additionally discovered within the search.
Athletes in Movement, the Louisiana fitness center the place Gardner labored from 2004 to 2014, was notified of the allegations and is cooperating with investigators.
Following his suspension, Gardner landed a job as a surgical technologist at MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Middle in Des Moines in Might 2024.
Hospital spokesperson Todd Mizener said that Gardner is now not employed there.
Gardner is being detained on the Polk County Jail and made his preliminary court docket look in Des Moines on Friday on a cost of manufacturing visible depictions of minors participating in sexually specific conduct.
He’s anticipated to be transported to Mississippi to face the cost there, the US Marshals Service instructed the Related Press.
The FBI can be in search of to determine every other potential victims.
Gardner faces as much as 30 years in jail if discovered responsible.
with Submit wires
