FBI arrest leads to maximum 90-year sentence for gymnastics coach who recorded minors at Mississippi gym
BATH, Maine — A former youth gymnastics coach was handed a century behind bars Wednesday, receiving the harshest penalty a federal judge could impose after he was convicted of exploiting students in his care.
Sean Gardner, 39, was sentenced to 90 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson, the maximum possible span for his crimes. The sentence stems from three separate child pornography production counts, each carrying a 30-year term, to which Gardner pleaded guilty. The convictions stem from his secret placement of a hidden camera inside a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi, between December 2017 and April 2018, where he recorded young female students undressing and using the facilities.
An FBI investigation, initially triggered by tips last summer, uncovered videos containing close-up images of at least 10 minors in various states of undress. Authorities say the footage was discovered on Gardner’s computers years after the recordings were made, during a separate probe into allegations of sexual misconduct involving gymnasts in Iowa.
Those Iowa connections would become a significant thread in the case. Former students at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines described Gardner as a coach who used his position to target young athletes. The institute, founded by Liang “Chow” Qiao, a figure known for producing Olympic-caliber talent, had hosted some of the nation’s top youth gymnasts, several of whom would later tell police and file civil lawsuits claiming Gardner preyed on them. Though Gardner has not yet faced state charges in connection with those Iowa claims, authorities have indicated they are waiting for the resolution of the federal case before deciding how to proceed.
The ripple effects of Gardner’s actions extend well beyond Mississippi. Several of the women involved in the federal case have argued that USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Center for SafeSport were made aware of his behavior as early as 2017, yet both organizations failed to remove him from the sport for years. In 2022, a gymnast at Chow’s accused Gardner of sexual abuse; the institute’s founder subsequently fired him. A subsequent investigation by SafeSport acknowledged that coaches, including Qiao, had been notified of the allegations, but the organization did not report them as required by its own policy, leaving gaps that allowed Gardner to remain in the ecosystem.
The case has drawn inevitable comparisons to the Larry Nassar scandal, which shook gymnastics two decades ago when the former national team doctor was convicted of sexually assaulting more than 265 young women and girls over a 22-year period. Like Nassar, Gardner occupied a position of trust within a discipline that has long struggled to protect its youngest participants. The sentencing judge’s decision reflects the gravity with which the court is viewing the breach of that trust, particularly given the additional layer of institutional silence.
Multiple lawsuits remain pending against Gardner, USA Gymnastics, and Chow’s Gymnastics. The Associated Press contributed to the original reporting.