Chow's Gymnastics and Dance is seen on Aug. 19, 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Chow's Gymnastics and Dance, 2218 Park Dr., is seen on Aug. 19, 2025, in West Des Moines.
Chow's Gymnastics and Dance is pictured on Aug. 19, 2025, in West Des Moines.

DES MOINES — A former coach at a prestigious Iowa gymnastics academy known for training Olympic athletes is facing federal charges for child pornography amid allegations of misconduct with young female gymnasts across two states.

Sean Gardner appeared in court this week on federal charges alleging he used a hidden camera to record underage gymnasts changing at a gym where he worked in Purvis, a small city in southern Mississippi. He later took a job in West Des Moines, Iowa, at the Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute, a program famed for training several gold-medal Olympians, including Shawn Johnson East.

Police found incriminating images at Gardner's home amid an investigation into inappropriate contact with gymnasts at Chow's, according to court documents obtained by the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network. The charges on which Gardner appeared in Mississippi, first reported by the Associated Press on Aug. 19, involve videos and images allegedly taken with a hidden camera at the Mississippi gym.

Sgt. Dan Wade, a spokesman for West Des Moines police, said the department's investigation remains ongoing and declined to comment on whether additional charges would be sought in Iowa.

The Polk County Attorney's Office also declined to comment on possible charges. Chow Gymnastics and Dance owner Liang Chow did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Minor accused Sean Gardner of inappropriately touching her

According to court filings, the West Des Moines police investigation began in March 2022 when an Iowa gymnast reported that Gardner had inappropriately touched her during training at Chow's, starting in September 2018 and continuing until she left in 2020.

The gymnast, who was a minor at the time, reported Gardner would place and rub his hands in inappropriate places while helping young female gymnasts learn routines; ask them if they were sexually active; and use sexually degrading language about them.

The initial reports were made to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which passed on the reports to West Des Moines police. But Wade said the initial victim did not want to pursue prosecution, leaving the investigation "on hold" until a second gymnast came forward in April 2024.

That victim, according to the FBI affidavit accompanying the Mississippi complaint, told police she believed Gardner had used his phone to record video of her while he made her perform inappropriate stretches, among other allegations.

Hundreds of images taken from hidden camera in gym bathroom

West Des Moines police subsequently obtained a warrant to search Gardner's residence, seizing several electronic devices on which officials allege they found hundreds of images of nude girls or girls changing clothes. The images were allegedly taken with a hidden camera in the bathroom at Gardner's former Mississippi gym, some of them identified as dating from 2017 and 2018.

Wade said the department is grateful to the second teen who came forward, and asked any other victims to reach out to police.

"We don’t want victims to feel like they have to stand alone on something like this, but we can’t act without them contacting law enforcement," he said.

USA Gymnastics and SafeSport did not respond to requests for comment on Aug. 19.

Garder worked as a surgical technologist after leaving Chow's

The Associated Press reported that Gardner, who began working at Chow's Gymnastics in September 2018, was suspended in 2022, four months after the first SafeSport report. He then began working in 2024 as a surgical technologist for MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center, according to the news agency.

A MercyOne spokesperson confirmed that Gardner no longer worked there and said the health care provider will assist law enforcement in any way possible.

Online court records do not list any attorney representing Gardner in his Mississippi case.

SafeSport founded after revelations of sexual assault in gymnastics

The incriminating photos found at Gardner's home date as far back as 2017, when SafeSport was founded following widespread revelations of sexual assault in the USA Gymnastics sport's governing organization.

The congressionally chartered nonprofit aims to keep athletes safe by addressing and preventing sexual, physical, and emotional abuse within sports, according to the watchdog group's mission statement.

In 2015, USA Gymnastics received multiple allegations of abuse against disgraced former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar from dozens of women and children. The allegations were later shared with the FBI, who in 2021 admitted to mishandling the investigation after the Justice Department Inspector General issued a 119-page report criticizing the bureau's Indianapolis field office.

In 2018, Nassar, a former Michigan State University employee, pleaded guilty to 10 charges of sexual assault and was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE & online.rainn.org).

Contributing: Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-gymnastics coach at prestigious Iowa academy arrested on child porn charges

Reporting by William Morris and Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect