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Iowa’s Iowa City (AP) When a bright young coach relocated from Mississippi to Iowa in 2018 to accept a position at a prestigious institution renowned for preparing Olympic winners, the U.S. gymnastics community was still reeling from a catastrophic sexual abuse scandal.
Sean Gardner was hired by Liang Chow Qiao, the owner of Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, who was so impressed with him that he assigned him to teach some of the club’s most talented girls and oversee its main junior event.
However, Gardner left Chow’s with little warning four years later.
The watchdog group had notified USA Gymnastics, the organization that was rocked by the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal that resulted in the establishment of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, that Gardner had been barred from all interactions with gymnasts.
Gardner’s departure was not explained for what cause. However, according to court documents exclusively obtained by the Associated Press, the instructor was charged with secretly filming others undressing in a gym restroom at his previous position in Mississippi and sexually abusing at least three juvenile gymnasts at Chow’s.
Gardner, 38, was arrested by the FBI last week on a federal child pornography accusation, more than three years after he was suspended from coaching. However, SafeSport, which deals with sex-abuse claims in Olympic sports, has yet to conclude his disciplinary case.
The public may be kept in the dark for years as SafeSport looks into and punishes coaches in situations like Gardner’s. To make sure abusers don’t go unpunished outside of sports, SafeSport mandates that claims be reported to the police. However, detractors claim the system is a convoluted and cumbersome procedure.
From an operational perspective, it appears that any involvement by SafeSport makes the situation toxic, according to lawyer Steve Silvey, a longtime critic of SafeSport who has defended clients in instances involving the center.
In a statement, SafeSport justified its temporary suspensions as a special and beneficial intervention when there are fears of a risk to others, even though it acknowledged that there may be delays as its investigations progress.
However, two years after SafeSport and the police were informed of the abuse claims against him, Gardner was able to secure a position in 2024 assisting with the care of surgical patients at a hospital in Iowa.
Additionally, according to court documents, West Des Moines police did not execute a search order at his residence until late May, which ultimately resulted in the discovery of a wealth of images and videos of young girls in nudity on his computer and cellphone.
Before the specifics of the federal accusation were released to the public on Friday, Iowa authorities sealed the court documents after the AP inquired about the probe earlier this month. When AP asked Gardner, Qiao, and Gardner’s old employer in Mississippi for comment, they did not reply.
The job that I ve always wanted
Most famously, Chow’s Gymnastics is the training ground for American gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas, who went on to win gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
After becoming a star on the Chinese national team and relocating to the US to teach at the University of Iowa, Qiao built the gym in 1998. Some families moved to Iowa to practice at the gym, which attracted elite young gymnasts.
In September 2018, Gardner jumped at the chance to become a coach with Qiao and moved to Iowa.
I’ve wanted this job my entire life. Since I started coaching, Chow is truly someone I have admired, Gardner told the ABC affiliate WOI-TV in 2019. And you can know as soon as you go into the gym because of the culture he has created, even from coaching the girls. It’s incredible. It’s stunning.
Gardner was elevated to director of the Chow’s Winter Classic, an annual competition that brings over 1,000 gymnasts to Iowa, a year later. Throughout his four years at Chow’s, he also served as coach of a junior Olympic squad.
Although several of his pupils received scholarships to play gymnastics in college, Gardner claimed he had higher aspirations.
In a 2020 interview with WOI-TV, he stated, “You want to leave a thumbprint on their life so that they remember Chow’s as family when they go off, hopefully, to school, to bigger and better things.”
Coach accused of sexual misconduct in Iowa and Mississippi
A nine-page FBI affidavit filed Friday highlights the charges against Gardner, who is accused of exploiting his position at Chow’s and his previous job at Jump In Gymnastics in Mississippi to prey on girls under his care.
According to the document, a girl told SafeSport in March 2022 that Gardner had engaged in inappropriate spotting tactics by touching her vagina and placing his hands between her legs.
It claimed that she accused Gardner of calling girls whores, sluts, and fools when he inquired about their sexual activity. She gave the names of six more possible victims and claimed that the behavior started after he was hired in 2018 and persisted until she quit the gym in 2020.
Four months after the girl’s report, in July 2022, SafeSport banned Gardner, a temporary measure it may take in extreme circumstances with adequate evidence while inquiries are conducted.
According to the FBI document, a month later, another girl reported to the center that Gardner had fondled her during workouts and engaged in other forms of physical and sexual abuse. According to the complaint, the girl said that he once pulled her across the carpet with such force that it burned her buttocks.
In accordance with its policy mandating that adults who engage with young athletes notify law enforcement of any possible criminal instances, SafeSport forwarded the information to the West Des Moines police.
Gardner was suspended from gymnastics by SafeSport, but the criminal inquiry soon ran into trouble.
Only one of their mothers called the police in 2022, despite a detective telling SafeSport to encourage the claimed victims to lodge criminal charges, according to police records. Police halted the inquiry when the woman stated that her daughter had decided not to seek criminal charges.
According to Ken Lang, a retired detective and associate professor of criminal justice at Milligan University, victims of abuse frequently refuse to cooperate with law enforcement.
“You have the prestige of this facility in this case,” he remarked. When their goal was to be successful in gymnastics, do they want to link their name in that way?
Even though Gardner was on probation for his second DUI arrest, police halted the investigation.
A dormant case reopened, and a year later, an arrest
According to a now-sealed statement filed by police detective Jeff Lyon, the case remained stalled until April 2024, when another former Chow’s pupil came forward to the West Des Moines Police Department to allege abuse charges. In accordance with its policy of not naming victims of suspected sexual assault, the AP is not identifying the student.
The 18-year-old told authorities that she started learning from Gardner in 2019 when she was 11 or 12 years old. At first, she saw him as a father figure who attempted to support her during her parents’ divorce. According to the affidavit, he told her she could tell him anything.
She told police that when she moved in 2021, he hugged her and told her that since the gym policy that prohibited such interaction was no longer in effect, she could communicate and follow him on Instagram and other social media platforms, where he went by the handle Coach Seanie.
Lyon’s affidavit, which summarizes her story, claims that Gardner made her perform indecent stretches that exposed her privates, caressed her back and butt while talking about his sex life, and fondled her during exercises, repeatedly caressing her vagina.
She informed the police that she believed he had filmed her in that pose with his cellphone.
The teen’s mother declined to comment when contacted by the AP. According to Lyon’s affidavit, the mother told police that she was interested in a financial settlement with Chow’s because the gym had been informed of the complaints and had done nothing to stop them. AP queries asking for comment were not answered by the gym.
Gardner made her first court appearance in Des Moines on Friday on a charge of making visual images of juveniles participating in sexually explicit conduct, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail. The FBI arrested Gardner 16 months after the teen’s 2024 report. AP contacts asking for comment were not answered by the public defense assigned to represent him.
It’s unclear why the matter took so long to investigate and why the FBI got involved in the case after failing to conduct a thorough investigation and having to reimburse Nassar’s victims $138 million.
According to the sealed court records, detectives found handwritten notes between Gardner and his former students as well as a desktop computer, laptop, and cellphone in late May.
According to those records, they discovered pictures of naked girls between the ages of 6 and 14 getting dressed in leotards or using the restroom. Those photos seem to have been taken by a covert camera in a bathroom.
According to the FBI affidavit, they also discovered 400 images and 50 video files, some of which seemed to be child pornography. According to one footage, Gardner is seen shutting off the camera and going into the bathroom.
Additionally, investigators discovered footage of an adult woman sneaking into and out of a bathtub, which they recognized as Gardner’s former lover. Investigators were informed by that woman and Candi Workman, the gym’s owner, that the photos seemed to be from the now-closed Jump In Gymnastics facility in Purvis, Mississippi.
SafeSport s power has limits
SafeSport has always emphasized that one of its main goals is to provide punishments in situations where criminal charges are not brought. But Gardner’s success in finding employment in the medical field shows how limited that authority is: People may be prohibited from participating in sports, but the public may not always be aware of this.
It stated in a statement given to AP that a lot of factors contribute to cases taking so long to close, including the 8,000 reports it receives year with only around 30 full-time investigators, without specifically commenting on Gardner’s case. It claimed to have redesigned a few processes in an effort to increase efficiency.
Even though the Center can and frequently does assist with law enforcement investigations, it stated that law enforcement is not obligated to exchange information, provide updates, or even verify that an investigation is still underway.
Li Li Leung, president of USA Gymnastics, described the center’s work as extremely challenging and challenging to handle.
Leung stated, “I would like to see more consistency with their sanctions and outcomes.” More standardization of things is something I would like to see. More communication and transparency from their end is something I would like to see.
A case that lingers, even after the SafeSport ban
Gardner posted on his Facebook profile that he had secured a new position as a surgical technologist at MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center in May 2024 while the inquiry was ongoing. Positioning patients on the operating table, helping with operations, and providing post-surgery care are all part of the job description.
Todd Mizener, the hospital’s spokesperson, told the Associated Press when asked about Gardner’s employment: “The only information I can provide is that he is no longer” at the hospital.
More than three years after the SafeSport Center and police first became aware of the case, it continues to haunt lives.
If SafeSport was ever a solution, it is now a part of a bigger issue, according to lawyer Silvey. Coordination with local or federal law enforcement is one of the most basic professional tasks that is presently mishandled hundreds of times a year, every day.
