Former Gymnastics Coach Sean Gardner Pleads Guilty to Three Federal Counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children

Sean Gardner pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children in federal court in Mississippi on Monday. He could face 15 to 30 years in prison when sentenced in October. Gardner is facing 12 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children in total.

Investigators seized approximately 50 videos and 400 photos from Gardner's residence, according to an FBI affidavit. Gardner is seen shutting the camera off in one of the videos. The charges stem from allegations that he set up a hidden camera in a girls' bathroom in a Purvis, Mississippi, gymnastics facility and recorded girls between the ages of about 6 to 14 undressing and changing into leotards in 2017 and 2018.

The FBI arrested Gardner in August of 2025. Police searched his Iowa apartment.

U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Iowa. A CBS News investigation found that the mother of a young competitor alerted USA Gymnastics about concerning behavior from Gardner as early as 2018. The mother of another young Mississippi gymnast emailed USA Gymnastics about concerns that Gardner was giving young gymnasts very long, front-facing, two-armed hugs with long kisses on the forehead.

Gardner's boss in Mississippi told USA Gymnastics about his grooming behavior in January of 2018. Still, Gardner moved from a gym in Mississippi to Chow's Gymnastics & Dance in Iowa in 2018. Gardner stands accused of abusing at least five young gymnasts at Chow's in separate lawsuits.

Finley Weldon, an 18-year-old gymnast, is suing Chow's and Gardner. She was 11 years old when Gardner began coaching her at Chow's Gymnastics & Dance. John Manly represents Finley Weldon. Manly represented over 180 plaintiffs in lawsuits against Larry Nassar.

"Had they done any kind of even surface investigation, they would have found this plethora of abuse that's sitting there," Manly said of USA Gymnastics. "There was plenty of evidence. " "Finley should have never laid eyes on him.

He should never have been in a gym," Manly added. Reflecting on 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. " Liberty Raines was 11 years old when she trained at Jump'In Gymnastics in Purvis, Mississippi.

She said Gardner would kiss gymnasts on the forehead and pat them on the butt at the end of each practice. "It was so normalized.

The FBI showed Liberty Raines a picture of herself 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. At Chow's, Weldon said Gardner acted "weird" from the start.

"I knew something was not really right about him," she said. " "I think my passion and love for gymnastics shined way brighter than him doing what he did," Weldon said. Finley Weldon competed on the Iowa State University gymnastics team as a freshman in 2026.

Iowa State announced it would discontinue its gymnastics program in March. Weldon entered the NCAA transfer portal after the announcement. Congress passed the Safe Sport Authorization Act in February of 2018.

A representative from SafeSport said the organization did not receive a report of sexual misconduct against Gardner until 2022. SafeSport issued a suspension to Gardner after learning of allegations against him in 2022. Gardner had a drunken driving arrest in 2021.

Gardner and his attorney did not reply to interview requests. Neither did the owners of Chow's or their attorneys, who have denied all claims brought against the gym in court. A spokesperson for USA Gymnastics said in an emailed statement, "We appreciate the seriousness of this case.