A former Purvis gymnastics coach received the maximum sentence for recording young female students undressing and using the bathroom with a hidden camera at a local gym.
U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson ordered 39-year-old Sean Gardner to serve 30 years in federal prison for each of the three federal child pornography production charges — a total of 90 years behind bars — to which he had previously pleaded guilty.
Last summer, he admitted to placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at the gymnastics studio in Purvis, where he recorded his gymnasts between December 2017 and April 2018. According to investigators with the FBI, Gardner made close-up videos of at least 10 minors naked or undressing, which was discovered years later on his computer during an investigation that stemmed from sexual abuse claims from gymnasts in Iowa.
When Gardner worked at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, multiple of his former students filed police reports and civil lawsuits claiming that he used his position as an instructor to prey on them. Founded by a prominent gymnastics coach known for producing Olympic champions, Liang “Chow” Qiao employed him to coach several young prospects and direct an annual winter meet in Iowa.
Gardner has not been charged in connection with any of the allegations he faced in Iowa. According to local police, the investigation will likely continue now that federal court has sentenced him.
According to lawyers for some of Gardner’s former students in Purvis, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport allegedly were told about his inappropriate behavior in 2017, but failed to take action against him. SafeSport suspended Gardner temporarily in 2022 after a gymnast at Chow’s alleged sexual abuse, leading to his firing.
In its own investigation as an oversight body for the sport, SafeSport stated it learned that other coaches and Chow herself were aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against Gardner, but did not report them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
