US coach who recorded young gymnasts undressing is sentenced to 90 years in prison
Prosecutors said the coach secretly recorded young athletes undressing, and the court imposed one of the longest sentences in the case.
- On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson sentenced former youth gymnastics coach Sean Gardner to 90 years in prison for producing child pornography, imposing the maximum penalty of 30 years for each of his three federal convictions.
- Between December 2017 and April 2018, Gardner pleaded guilty to placing hidden cameras in bathrooms at a Purvis, Mississippi, gym, secretly recording young female students undressing and creating videos of at least 10 minors.
- Investigators seized approximately 50 videos and 400 photos from his residence, while gymnast Liberty Raines, who joined Jump'In Gymnastics in Purvis at age 11, described his behavior as normalized: "It was so normalized," Raines said.
- Civil lawsuits allege USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport were alerted to Gardner's conduct as early as 2017 but failed to remove him from the sport, with SafeSport only suspending him in 2022.
- Police in Iowa continue investigating separate allegations regarding Gardner's time at Chow's gym, though he remains uncharged there, with authorities stating they would wait to determine how to proceed after the federal case concludes.
25 Articles
25 Articles
Gymnastics coach who recorded girls in Mississippi gym's bathroom sentenced to 90 years in prison
The judge gave the maximum sentence possible to Sean Gardner, 39, who pleaded guilty to placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi.
Coach who recorded young gymnasts undressing is sentenced to 90 years in prison
A former youth gymnastics coach was sentenced Wednesday to 90 years in prison for secretly videotaping young female students undressing and using the bathroom at a gym in Purvis, Mississippi. Sean Gardner, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson. She ordered him to serve 30 years for each of the three child pornography production charges to which he pleaded guilty.
U.S. coach who recorded young gymnasts undressing is sentenced to 90 years in prison
A once prominent youth gymnastics coach was sentenced to 90 years in prison Wednesday for secretly recording his young female students undressing and using the bathroom at a Mississippi gym, in a case that rocked the sport.
Winnipeg Free Press
US coach who recorded young gymnasts undressing is sentenced to 90 years in prison
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A once prominent youth gymnastics coach was sentenced to 90 years in prison Wednesday for secretly recording his young female students undressing and using the bathroom at a Mississippi gym, in a case that rocked the sport.
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