Olympics watchdog failed to close abuse case against gymnastics coach: report

Young gymnasts and their parents began sounding the alarm about a coach as early as 2017, the same year a watchdog agency was created in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal that nearly eviscerated USA Gymnastics and damaged the country’s entire Olympic movement.

But it took until 2022 for Sean Gardner to face any sanction from the US Center for SafeSport, the independent agency created by Congress to investigate misconduct in Olympic sports. And it wasn’t until an Associated Press investigation this year that details were revealed about the coach, whose arrest on child pornography charges in August was a turning point in a case that one person involved called “Nassar 2.0.”

Now, a new AP investigation found that months before Gardner’s arrest on allegations of installing cameras in the bathrooms of a girls’ gym in Purvis, Miss., he was willing to accept a lifetime ban from coaching gymnastics as part of a deal in which he would admit to the abuse, according to three people involved in SafeSport and the handling of the case.

An internal political tangle that included allegations of retaliation against SafeSport employees prevented it from imposing its harshest punishment, the people who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from SafeSport told the AP.

With multiple alleged victims, new witnesses coming forward and Gardner’s history at three gyms in different states, the case has become one of the eight-year-old agency’s most troubling investigations.

“It was like, ‘Well, it’s ‘Nassar 2.0,’ so let’s see what we can figure out and wrap it up,” one person said.

This person said no clear reason had been given as to why the center had not finalized the permanent ban.

Meanwhile, Gardner has pleaded not guilty to federal child pornography charges and remains jailed while awaiting trial, scheduled for March 2.

Differences between temporary and lifetime bans

SafeSport’s failure to secure a permanent ban is seen by critics as a fundamental failure that undermines one of its key missions: ensuring permanent sanctions against the most dangerous attackers.

When asked why SafeSport did not follow up, center spokeswoman Hilary Nemchik said in a statement that she could not comment on those details.

But, she said, SafeSport “took swift action to protect athletes as soon as they received the first allegations of sexual misconduct. The restrictions in place during a temporary suspension and a permanent ban are the same.”

Regarding SafeSport’s handling of cases in general, the statement said that “even if a defendant agrees to a significant sanction, center staff are still responsible for ensuring that the defendant receives a fair process.”

Although he did not specifically address the Gardner case, Nemchik added that the center is careful not to close cases “with inaccuracies or draw conclusions that a defendant has not properly noted, as doing so could compromise the case and necessitate reopening of the case.”

Gardner’s July 2022 temporary suspension was entered into SafeSport’s disciplinary database, a searchable list of people banned by the center, which updates the list but does not announce new or notable sanctions. The database requires users to know the name of a person they want to monitor.

The permanent ban that Gardner indicated he was willing to sign in early 2025 would have changed his status in the database and closed the investigation, the people familiar with the matter told the AP.

That would have limited its ability to do more damage in several ways, experts familiar with SafeSport told AP. These include:

• Eliminate the possibility of the matter going to arbitration and any need to re-interview and potentially re-traumatize the athletes.
• Removing the risk of any ban on Gardner being lifted if he were acquitted in his criminal case.

Just as important, it would have sent a clear message to parents, athletes and potential employers, said attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel, who represented the gymnasts in the Nassar case.

“It communicates something that is a final determination,” she said. “It means something. It’s not like it’s something that’s being tried and maybe this guy is being falsely accused.”

Gardner admitting to potentially illegal activity at the SafeSport Center in early 2025 also could have provided law enforcement with more information in a case that didn’t result in his arrest until August, said attorney Steve Silvey, a longtime critic of the center.

“Did he abuse anyone during the months SafeSport had this information?” » said Silvery. “And how did that fit with what the FBI knew” before arresting him?

Although he was temporarily suspended from coaching gymnastics for two years, Gardner was able to land a job in May 2024 at MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center as a surgical technologist, responsible for positioning patients on the operating table and assisting with procedures and post-operative care. A hospital spokesperson did not respond to a voicemail and email from the AP seeking comment.

Gardner’s attorney, Omodare Jupiter, also did not respond to an email and phone message from the AP asking about SafeSport’s handling of his client’s case.

Office Policies and Staff Fearing Retaliation

People familiar with Gardner’s case told AP that he got stuck in a web of internal SafeSport policies that led to HR complaints alleging retaliation and other concerns — and ultimately no lifetime ban.

They described a dysfunctional culture in which employees were afraid to talk to their bosses about problems they were having, including frustration over the center’s failure to close the Gardner case.

They said SafeSport conducted an employee survey earlier this year and it produced troubling results. A slideshow presented to employees, shared with the AP, cited: “Significant concerns about retaliation, perceived favoritism and unqualified promotions” within the center’s investigative and legal departments.

“If I say something, I risk being punished without being told why,” reads one quote from an employee.

Nemchik did not respond to an AP question about what SafeSport did in response to the investigation, which took place shortly after CEO Ju’Riese Colon’s ouster in April, but acknowledged “near-term cultural challenges” that arose after Colon’s departure.

Nemchik said in a statement that the center expects a new CEO to focus on “organizational excellence as the center evolves under new leadership to best fulfill our mission.”

Some allegations went unnoticed for years

Since his arrest, Gardner’s sanction in SafeSport’s disciplinary database has been changed from “temporary suspension” to “ineligible” due to “criminal disposition involving a minor” and “sexual misconduct.”

A conviction would change Gardner’s sanction to permanent ineligibility for gymnastics training. That’s the status Gardner agreed to in early 2025, according to April filing notes, a person told the AP.

“People know what Larry Nassar did and how it happened, and you let it happen again?” said John Manly, lawyer for the gymnasts in the Nassar and Gardner cases, when asked to compare the two. “The sole job of this center is to protect child athletes from predators. And they are failing.”

Meanwhile, SafeSport, USA Gymnastics and coaches at the Iowa gym where Gardner worked are named as defendants in civil lawsuits filed by two gymnasts who say they didn’t do enough to protect them.

The lawsuits say that in December 2017, USA Gymnastics and SafeSport were informed by a girl’s parents about Gardner’s inappropriate behavior while he was a coach at Jump’In Gymnastics in Purvis, Mississippi.

Among the lawsuit’s allegations:

• “Gardner requires minor gymnasts to hug him after every practice, including long, two-armed, face-to-face hugs.”
• “Gardner disciplines and intimidates a minor gymnast by taking her into his office for a 25-minute closed-door meeting without her parents’ consent, verbally abusing her, and then hugging and kissing her without her consent.”

SafeSport and USA Gymnastics declined to comment on the litigation.

The criminal complaint that led to Gardner’s arrest says the FBI found files on his computer of videos Gardner had made with a hidden camera in the girls’ bathroom as young gymnasts undressed and went to the bathroom at the Mississippi gym. The videos date from at least December 2017 until mid-2018.

The SafeSport Center said USA Gymnastics informed it in January 2018 that one of its affiliated gyms had resolved a report involving Gardner. But, the center said, it did not investigate further because the report was not related to sexual misconduct and it did not receive detailed information.

During this time, Gardner was able to land a job at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, in 2018, a gym owned by famous coach Liang “Chow” Qiao that has produced Olympians, including gold medalist Shawn Johnson.

It wasn’t until 2022, when new abuse allegations were reported to SafeSport, that the Iowa gym fired Gardner and the center temporarily suspended him. The gym and Qiao, both named in the lawsuits, did not respond to phone and email messages left by the AP.

It took another three years and an AP investigation to reveal the depth of the allegations against Gardner and the shortcomings of the oversight agency created to protect athletes in the wake of the Nassar affair.

Simpson Tuegel said it’s not surprising that this case is being compared to Nassar’s.

“You look at the timeline and how many people knew and failed to protect children and allowed this person to continue to have contact,” she said.

“And there’s definitely a point that we see, in some of these cases, where this absolutely could have been stopped and it wasn’t.”