Sean Gardner, a gymnastics coach who trained elite young girls, will be in federal court in Mississippi on Monday for a change of plea hearing after facing 12 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children. He initially pleaded not guilty.
The charges stem from allegations Gardner set up a hidden camera in a girls’ bathroom in a Purvis, Mississippi, gymnastics facility where he worked, recording 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. Gardner is allegedly seen shutting the camera off in one of the videos.
In addition to those allegations against Gardner in Mississippi, there are also claims of misconduct at one of the most revered gyms in competitive gymnastics. The Gardner case could stand as one of the first major lapses in the protection of young gymnasts since the Larry Nassar scandal.
After Nassar — the disgraced doctor who pleaded guilty to molesting multiple young gymnasts — USA Gymnastics leadership promised wholesale changes to its safety protocols. A CBS News investigation has found that the mother of a young competitor alerted USA Gymnastics about behavior from Gardner she found concerning as early as 2018, but he was still able to move from the gym in Mississippi to Chow’s Gymnastics & Dance in Iowa, a decorated training center that has produced two Olympic gold medalists, Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas. Gardner stands accused of abusing at least five young gymnasts at Chow’s in separate lawsuits.
“Had they done any kind of even surface investigation, they would have found this plethora of abuse that’s sitting there,” attorney John Manly said of USA Gymnastics.
“There was plenty of evidence. They just didn’t either do it or want to see it,” said Manly, who represented over 180 plaintiffs in lawsuits against Larry Nassar.
Manly represents Finley Weldon, a 18-year-old gymnast 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 the 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,”
Left: CBS News; Right: AP Photo/Mike Buscher 
Gardner and his attorney did not reply to our interview requests; neither did the owners of Chow’s or their attorneys, who have denied all claims brought against Chow’s in court. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for USA Gymnastics said: “We appreciate the seriousness of this case. Because it is an ongoing legal matter, USA Gymnastics cannot offer further comment.”
“Very traumatic and scary”
Liberty Raines was 11 years old when she showed up at Jump’In Gymnastics in Purvis, Mississippi. Back then, Raines had aspirations of becoming a college gymnast. To get there, she thought she had found the perfect coach — Sean Gardner.
“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 says that Gardner was charismatic and that she was so young, she didn’t realize her coach’s behavior was abnormal, especially at the end of practice.
“Each of us would line up to get a hug, and he would kiss us on our forehead, and pat us each on the butt,” Raines said.
She says that ritual ended nearly every practice. “It was so normalized,” Raines said. “I don’t think any of us thought anything of it.”
Soon, Raines said Gardner would touch her in the middle of practice, while he was spotting her on the bars. Raines said she wasn’t old enough to process it or speak up at the time.
Around that time, the mother of another young Mississippi gymnast alerted USA Gymnastics in an email about her concerns that Gardner was giving young gymnasts “very long, front-facing, two-armed hugs with long kisses on the forehead.”
Separately, Gardner’s boss in Mississippi said in a later email she told USA Gymnastics about Gardner’s “grooming behavior” in January of 2018.
Still, later in 2018, Gardner moved from one USA Gymnastics gym to another — from his Mississippi gym to Chow’s Gymnastics & Dance in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Only later was Raines approached by the FBI. During their investigations into Gardner and his alleged use of a hidden camera, she says agents paid her a visit to show her a disturbing image from when she was changing in the girls’ bathroom of her Mississippi gym.
“They had a picture of me. It was very traumatic and scary for me,” Raines said.
“Something was not really right”
At Chow’s, Gardner placed himself in line to coach Olympic hopefuls. He began coaching Finley Weldon, a skilled 11-year-old gymnast who had Olympic aspirations herself.
Weldon said Gardner acted “weird” from the start, making inappropriate jokes and asking teen girls about their sex lives.
“I knew something was not really right about him,” Weldon said.
Weldon says Gardner would touch her inappropriately while she was stretching and while he was spotting her during her gymnastics training.
“You don’t need to do that to spot somebody,” she said.
Manly says the initial concerns raised in Mississippi should have led USA Gymnastics to mount a rigorous investigation. That did not occur, he said, allowing Gardner to move from Mississippi to Iowa, where Weldon and at least four other gymnasts are now suing Gardner, alleging he abused them.
Iowa Dept. of Corrections via AP 
After the Nassar scandal, Congress passed the Safe Sport Authorization Act in February of 2018. The law gave the U.S. Center for SafeSport the authority and the jurisdiction to investigate allegations of misconduct and sexual abuse. A representative from SafeSport said the organization did not receive a report of sexual misconduct against Gardner until 2022. When SafeSport learned of allegations against Gardner, the representative said it issued a suspension, which removed Gardner from coaching.
The FBI arrested Gardner in August of 2025, after police searched his Iowa apartment. Electronic devices seized uncovered the alleged hidden camera recordings taken in the Mississippi gym bathroom, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Iowa.
Weldon left Chow’s after she raised concerns about Gardner, but she continued to train. This year, she competed on the Iowa State University gymnastics team as a freshman.
“I think my passion and love for gymnastics shined way brighter than him doing what he did,” Weldon 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 gymnastics team in the coming months.