Gymnasts speak out about alleged abuse by coach years after Larry Nassar scandal 04:34
Sean Gardner, a gymnastics coach who trained elite young girls, pleaded guilty Monday in Mississippi federal court to three counts of child sexual exploitation. He could face 15 to 30 years in prison on each count when he is sentenced in October.
The charges stem from allegations that Gardner installed hidden cameras in the girls’ bathrooms at the Purvis, Mississippi, gymnastics facility where he worked, recording girls between the ages of 6 and 14 undressing and changing into tights in 2017 and 2018. According to an FBI affidavit, investigators seized approximately 50 videos and 400 photos as evidence from Gardner’s residence. In one of the videos, Gardner is allegedly seen turning off the camera.
In addition to the charges against Gardner in Mississippi, there are also allegations of inappropriate behavior at one of the most respected gyms in competitive gymnastics. The Gardner case may be one of the first major lapses in protecting young gymnasts since the Larry Nassar scandal.
USA Gymnastics leadership has promised sweeping changes to its safety protocols after Nassar, the disgraced doctor, admitted molesting multiple young gymnasts. A CBS News investigation found that the mother of a young athlete notified USA Gymnastics of her concerns about Gardner’s behavior as early as 2018, but Gardner was still able to move from the gym in Mississippi to the Weekly Gymnastics and Dance Center in Iowa, a beautifully decorated training center that produced two Olympic gold medalists, Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas. Gardner is accused in separate lawsuits of abusing at least five young gymnasts at Chow’s.
“If they had done any kind of superficial investigation, they would have found a tremendous amount of abuse there,” attorney John Manley said of USA Gymnastics.
“There’s a lot of evidence. They just didn’t do it and didn’t want to see that happen,” said Manley, who represents more than 180 plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Larry Nassar.
Manley sued Chow and Gardner on behalf of 18-year-old gymnast Finley Weldon. “Finlay shouldn’t have seen him. He shouldn’t have been in the gym.”
Recalling the gymnasts who spoke out in the Nassar case, Weldon told CBS News, “They were brave and they spoke out so this never happens again. And it happened again.”
Finley Weldon, right, on the balance beam, speaks to CBS News during an NCAA gymnastics competition in Denver on February 1, 2026. / Photo credit: Left: CBS News; Right: AP Photo/Mike Buscher
Gardner and his attorney did not respond to our requests for an interview; nor did Chow’s owners or their attorneys, who have denied all claims brought against Chow’s in court. “We understand the seriousness of this case. As this is an ongoing legal matter, USA Gymnastics is unable to provide further comment,” a USA Gymnastics spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
‘Very painful and terrible’
Liberty Raines was 11 years old when she showed up at the Jump’In gymnastics competition in Purvis, Mississippi. At the time, Raines aspired to become a college gymnast. To make that happen, she thinks she’s found the perfect coach in Sean Gardner.
“He trained a lot of girls to be great gymnasts,” Raines said. “[He] Highly looked up to and respected. “
Raines said Gardner was charismatic and too young to realize the coach’s behavior was unusual, especially at the end of practice.
“Every one of us would line up for a hug, and he would kiss our foreheads and pat our butts,” Raines said.
This ritual pretty much ends all practice, she said. “It’s become normal,” Raines said. “I don’t think any of us expected that.”
Soon, Raines said Gardner would touch her during training, when he spotted her on the bars. Raines said she wasn’t old enough to process it or speak out.
Around that time, the mother of another young Mississippi gymnast alerted USA Gymnastics in an email that she was concerned Gardner was giving the young gymnast a “very long, frontal, two-arm hug with a kiss on the forehead.”
Separately, Gardner’s boss at Mississippi State said in a later email that she told USA Gymnastics about Gardner’s “grooming behavior” in January 2018.
Still, later in 2018, Gardner moved from one USA Gymnastics gym to another — from the gym in Mississippi to the Chow Gymnastics and Dance Gym in West Des Moines, Iowa.
It was not until later that the FBI contacted Raines. She said agents visited her during the investigation into Gardner and his alleged use of hidden cameras and showed her disturbing photos of her while changing in the women’s restroom of a Mississippi gym.
“They had a picture of me. It was very traumatic and scary for me,” Raines said.
“Something’s not quite right”
Among Zhou’s coaches, Gardner has positioned himself as a coach for Olympians. He began coaching Finley Weldon, a highly skilled 11-year-old gymnast with Olympic aspirations of his own.
Weldon said Gardner acted “weirdly” from the start, making inappropriate jokes and asking about teenage girls’ sex lives.
“I knew something was wrong with him,” Weldon said.
Weldon said Gardner touched her inappropriately when she was stretching and when he spotted her during gymnastics practices.
“You don’t need to do this to discover someone,” she said.
Manley said the initial concerns raised by Mississippi should prompt a rigorous investigation by USA Gymnastics. That didn’t happen, he said, allowing Gardner to move from Mississippi to Iowa, and Weldon and at least four other gymnasts are now suing Gardner, accusing him of abusing them.
Sean Gardner was arrested for driving under the influence in 2021. /Image credit: Iowa Department of Corrections, AP
After the Nassar scandal, Congress passed the Safe Sports Authorization Act in February 2018. The bill gives the U.S. Center for SafeSport the power and jurisdiction to investigate allegations of misconduct and sexual abuse. A SafeSport representative said the organization did not receive reports of sexual misconduct against Gardner until 2022. When SafeSport learned of the allegations against Gardner, the representative said it issued a suspension order removing Gardner from his coaching duties.
The FBI arrested Gardner in August 2025 after police raided his apartment in Iowa. Seized electronic devices turned up alleged hidden camera recordings taken in a Mississippi gym bathroom, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Weldon left Zhou’s hospital after she raised concerns with Gardner, but she continued training. This year, she competed on the Iowa State University gymnastics team as a freshman.
“I think my passion and love for gymnastics shines brighter than what he does,” Weldon said.
Weldon entered the NCAA transfer portal in March after Iowa State announced it was discontinuing its gymnastics program. She hopes to join a new college gymnastics team in the coming months.