US EditionYears after abuse reports, ex-coach at renowned US gymnastics academy is arrested by FBI
Sean Gardner was suspended by SafeSport in 2022 and arrested by the FBI in 2025 on federal child pornography charges following multiple abuse reports at Iowa and Mississippi gyms.
- Sean Gardner, a gymnastics coach at Chow's Gymnastics in West Des Moines, was taken into custody by the FBI last week facing federal allegations related to child pornography.
- The case originated from a March 2022 SafeSport report alleging Gardner used inappropriate spotting techniques involving sexual contact, but stayed dormant until reopening in April 2024.
- In September 2018, Gardner relocated from Mississippi to Iowa to work at Chow's Gymnastics, where he faced allegations of mistreating multiple young athletes and secretly filming others undressing during his previous employment in Mississippi.
- Court records and a nine-page FBI affidavit detail Gardner fondling girls aged 6 to 14, making inappropriate remarks, and investigators recovered nude photos and videos from his devices during a late May 2024 search.
- Gardner's arrest highlights ongoing challenges addressing gymnastics abuse as SafeSport suspended him in July 2022 but his disciplinary case remains unresolved more than three years after initial allegations.
155 Articles
155 Articles
Years after abuse reports, ex-coach at renowned US gymnastics academy arrested by FBI
The U.S. gymnastics world was only just recovering from a devastating sexual abuse scandal when a promising young coach moved from Mississippi to Iowa to take a job in 2018 at an elite academy known for training Olympic champions.
Ex-coach at US academy arrested by FBI
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The U.S. gymnastics world was only just recovering from a devastating sexual abuse scandal when a promising young coach moved from Mississippi to Iowa to take a job in 2018 at an elite academy known for…
Ex-coach at top Iowa gymnastics academy arrested on child pornography charges years after he was first accused of sexual abuse
Sean Gardner, 38, was busted by the FBI for producing child pornography materials after authorities raided his home, finding hundreds of images of children, following an investigation into inappropriate contact with gymnasts at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines.
Coach accused of abuse at renowned US gymnastics academy
A coach at a center in Iowa that has trained Olympic champions is facing allegations that he abused young female gymnasts and secretly photographed others undressing at a prior job in Mississippi. Sean Gardner, who coached at Chow’s Gymnastics and…
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