Sean Gardner Appears in Mississippi Federal Court for Change of Plea Hearing on Child Exploitation Charges

Sean Gardner will appear in federal court in Mississippi on Monday for a change of plea hearing after initially pleading not guilty to 12 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children. The charges stem from allegations that Gardner set up a hidden camera in a girls' bathroom in a Purvis, Mississippi, gymnastics facility.

The camera recorded girls between the ages of about 6 and 14 undressing and changing into leotards in 2017 and 2018, according to an FBI affidavit.

Investigators seized approximately 50 videos and 400 photos from Gardner's residence. Gardner is seen shutting the camera off in one of the videos. @CBSNews reported that Gardner was arrested by the FBI in August 2025.

U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Iowa said. Gardner stands accused of abusing at least five young gymnasts at Chow's Gymnastics & Dance in separate lawsuits.

He moved from the gymnastics facility in Purvis, Mississippi, to Chow's Gymnastics & Dance in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 2018. Chow's Gymnastics & Dance has produced Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas. 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 emailed USA Gymnastics about his grooming behavior in January 2018. 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 Mississippi gym bathroom during their investigation. "They had a picture of me. It was very traumatic and scary for me," Raines said.

Finley Weldon is an 18-year-old gymnast suing Chow's Gymnastics & Dance and Sean Gardner. She trained under Gardner at Chow's beginning at age 11. Weldon competed on the Iowa State University gymnastics team as a freshman in 2026.

Iowa State University announced it would discontinue its gymnastics program in March 2026. Weldon described Gardner's behavior as inappropriate from the start. "I knew something was not really right about him," she said.

She added that the gymnasts who spoke out against Larry Nassar "were brave and they spoke out so this wouldn't happen again. " John Manly represents Finley Weldon. He 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. U.S. Center for SafeSport did not receive a report of sexual misconduct against Gardner until 2022, a representative said.

The organization issued a suspension removing Gardner from coaching after learning of allegations against him. Congress passed the Safe Sport Authorization Act in February 2018. A spokesperson for USA Gymnastics said in an emailed statement that the organization appreciates the seriousness of the case but cannot offer further comment because it is an ongoing legal matter.

Gardner and his attorney did not reply to interview requests, nor did the owners of Chow's or their attorneys.