Crime · West Des Moines, IA
Former Iowa Gymnastics Coach Sentenced to 90 Years for Recording Minors
Sean Gardner, 39, a former youth gymnastics coach at Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson to 90 years in prison—30 years on each of three federal child pornography production charges he pleaded guilty to. Gardner placed a hidden camera in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi, between December 2017 and April 2018, recording at least 10 minors undressing or using the bathroom. Several former students from Chow's Gymnastics have alleged sexual abuse by Gardner in civil lawsuits, though he has not been criminally charged in connection with those Iowa allegations. Lawsuits remain pending against Gardner, USA Gymnastics, and Chow's Gymnastics.