Gymnastics Coach Sean Gardner Faces Federal Court for Child Exploitation Plea Change

Sean Gardner, a gymnastics coach who trained elite young girls, will appear in federal court in Mississippi on Monday for a change of plea hearing. He faces 12 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children after initially pleading not guilty.

The charges stem from allegations that Gardner set up a hidden camera in a girls' bathroom at a Purvis, Mississippi, gymnastics facility where he worked. He recorded girls between the ages of about 6 to 14 undressing and changing into their leotards in 2017 and 2018. Investigators seized approximately 50 videos and 400 photos from Gardner's residence as evidence, according to an FBI affidavit. One video shows Gardner shutting off the camera.

Claims against Gardner extend beyond Mississippi to misconduct at Chow's Gymnastics & Dance in Iowa, a training center that produced Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas. Gardner faces separate lawsuits accusing him of abusing at least five young gymnasts there.

A CBS News investigation found that a young competitor's mother alerted USA Gymnastics about Gardner's behavior as early as 2018. Despite this, he moved from the Mississippi gym to Chow's. "Had they done any kind of even surface investigation, they would have found this plethora of abuse that's sitting there," said attorney John Manly, who represented over 180 plaintiffs in lawsuits against Larry Nassar.

"There was plenty of evidence. They just didn't either do it or want to see it," Manly added. He represents 18-year-old gymnast Finley Weldon, who is suing Chow's and Gardner. "Finley should have never laid eyes on him. He should never have been in a gym."

Reflecting on gymnasts who spoke out in the Nassar case, Weldon told CBS News, "They were brave and they spoke out so this wouldn't happen again. And it happened again."

Gardner and his attorney did not reply to interview requests. Owners of Chow's and their attorneys, who have denied all claims against Chow's in court, also did not respond. A USA Gymnastics spokesperson said in an emailed statement: "We appreciate the seriousness of this case. Because it is an ongoing legal matter, USA Gymnastics cannot offer further comment."

Liberty Raines was 11 years old when she joined Jump'In Gymnastics in Purvis, Mississippi, aspiring to become a college gymnast. She viewed Gardner as the perfect coach. "There were just a lot of girls that he produced to be good gymnasts," Raines said. "[He] was highly looked up to and respected."

Raines said Gardner was charismatic. At the end of practices, girls lined up for hugs, forehead kisses and pats on the butt. "It was so normalized," she said. "I don't think any of us thought anything of it."

Gardner also touched her during practices while spotting her on bars, Raines said. She was too young to process or speak up then.

Around that time, another Mississippi gymnast's mother emailed USA Gymnastics about Gardner giving young gymnasts "very long, front-facing, two-armed hugs with long kisses on the forehead." Gardner's Mississippi boss later emailed that she had reported his "grooming behavior" to USA Gymnastics in January 2018.

Later in 2018, Gardner moved to Chow's Gymnastics & Dance in West Des Moines, Iowa. FBI agents later showed Raines a photo of her changing in the Mississippi gym bathroom. "They had a picture of me. It was very traumatic and scary for me," she said.

At Chow's, Gardner coached Olympic hopefuls including 11-year-old Finley Weldon. She said he acted "weird" from the start with inappropriate jokes and questions about teen girls' sex lives. "I knew something was not really right about him," Weldon said.

Weldon said Gardner touched her inappropriately while stretching and spotting her. "You don't need to do that to spot somebody," she said.

Manly said initial Mississippi concerns should have prompted USA Gymnastics to investigate rigorously. That did not happen, allowing Gardner to reach Iowa, where Weldon and at least four others now sue him for abuse.

Congress passed the Safe Sport Authorization Act in February 2018 after the Nassar scandal, giving the U.S. Center for SafeSport authority to investigate misconduct and sexual abuse. SafeSport did not receive a report on Gardner until 2022. It then suspended him from coaching.

The FBI arrested Gardner in August 2025 after searching his Iowa apartment. Devices seized revealed the Mississippi bathroom recordings, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Iowa.

Weldon left Chow's after raising concerns but kept training. This year, she competed for Iowa State University as a freshman. "I think my passion and love for gymnastics shined way brighter than him doing what he did," she said.

In March, after Iowa State announced it would discontinue its gymnastics program, Weldon entered the NCAA transfer portal. She hopes to join a new collegiate team soon.