Prosecutors and federal investigators are seeking more leads about a former West Des Moines gymnastics coach now accused of sexually exploiting underage girls in multiple states.
Sean Michael Gardner, who worked as a coach from 2018 to 2022 at Iowa's famed Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute, is now facing child pornography charges over allegations that, at a previous coaching job in Mississippi, he used hidden cameras to capture hundreds of images and videos of young gymnasts in various states of undress.
The FBI has said in court filings the images were discovered after a young gymnast at Chow's, known for training Olympic champions including Shawn Johnson, reported she believed Gardner had used his phone to record her in inappropriate positions. That led police to obtain a warrant for his electronic devices.
At least two Iowa gymnasts have made reports about Gardner, including alleged inappropriate touching in the guise of stretching and helping spot them for their routines, but no charges have yet been filed in the state. The West Des Moines Police Department maintains an open and active investigation, a spokesperson told the Des Moines Register on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
Now investigators are casting a wider net. On Wednesday, after the Associated Press, Register and other news organizations reported on Gardner's Mississippi charges, the Polk County Attorney's Office shared a link on Facebook to an FBI web page soliciting information related to Gardner.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa later Wednesday issued a news release about the link.
The web page indicates that Gardner is now believed to have exploited underaged girls at gyms in three states: Prairieville, Louisiana, from 2004 to 2014; Purvis, Mississippi, from 2014 to 2018; and at Chow's in West Des Moines from 2018 to 2022.
The FBI has posted links where victims and their parents or guardians can provide information and submit photos or videos related to the investigation.
In its post Wednesday, the Polk County Attorney's Office asks that anyone who might know potential victims share with them the FBI page link: fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/victim-services/seeking-victim-information/seeking-victim-information-in-sean-michael-gardner-investigation
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at [email protected] or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa gymnastics coach exploited children in three states, FBI believes
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