FBI Arrested Gardner Three Years After Being Suspended From Coaching

A Case for Women LLC, a women-owned organization dedicated to educating women and families about how to access contingency fee civil legal services, is sounding the alarm on former gymnastics coach Sean Gardner. According to reports from the AP, Gardner was arrested by the FBI in August 2025 on a federal child pornography charge. However, the AP also reports that Gardner had been suspended from coaching gymnastics at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute, an elite gymnastics academy in Iowa, in 2022. Per documents uncovered by the AP, Gardner was accused of sexually abusing young gymnasts at Chow’s and secretly recording other gymnasts undressing at a prior coaching job in Mississippi.

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Susan Knape, Founder of A Case for Women.

And sadly, the reports of abuse don’t end there. The FBI said earlier this week they believe Gardner “primarily targeted children” at gyms in Iowa, Mississippi, and even Louisiana.

There is evidence of reported abuse by Gardner to SafeSport in 2022, which informed the local police department about the allegations. The police department stated they closed the investigation in 2022 because the initial accuser decided she didn’t want to press charges.

Silence surrounded the situation until 2024, when survivor Finley Weldon decided to come forward. This started a chain reaction that resulted in the FBI's arrest of Gardner.

Speaking with the AP, she stated that she wanted “..my name out there because I was the one who did come forward..I felt like I needed to speak out to stop it from happening to other little girls, so they didn’t have to go through what I went through.”

There is also evidence that there are other survivors of sexual abuse by Gardner.

“I am so proud of this brave woman for speaking up,” said Kim Bergman, survivor, advocate, and co-director of the Protecting Kansas Children from Sexual Predators. “As a survivor myself, I know how scary it can be to come forward. In the end, knowing that sharing my story helped others from being abused made it all worth it. It’s never too late to help others seek justice. A Case for Women was there for me and helped me find my voice and I’m sure they will be there for you.”

A Case for Women has an established history of helping gymnasts (current and former) take their power back through civil legal action after sexual abuse by coaches, doctors, and others associated with the sport. We even worked with women who had been abused by Larry Nassar take action against Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics (USAG), and others, for failing to protect them and others.

“The question is why this creep was able to keep abusing for so long,” said Susan Knape, founder of A Case for Women. “Not only did he work at a gym in Louisiana for 10 years, but he was able to obtain a position at an elite level gym, where he worked for 4 years. You would think the gymnastics community would have learned something from the Larry Nassar scandal, but it appears that’s not the case. We aren’t going to stop until the gymnastics world is completely cleaned up and safe for young women.”

Advocates at A Case for Women urge those who have been abused by Sean Gardner to contact them right away. Even if law enforcement or the FBI has already been involved, it is important to consider joining civil litigation that will pursue the root cause of the problem. We hope to hear from you soon.

About A Case for Women

A Case for Women, founded in 2015, is the nation’s leader in advocating for women who have been sexually assaulted or otherwise harmed due to corporate misconduct. It is our mission to educate women and their families about opportunities to take civil legal action that not only provides compensation but also creates systemic change. We educate, advocate, and ultimately connect women with experienced law firms that represent survivors on a contingency fee basis. Since our inception, we have spoken with hundreds of thousands who have been harmed by the negligence of institutions and companies that chose profits over people. This work has resulted in significant societal changes, such as the dramatic shift in gymnastics coaching after the Larry Nassar MSU lawsuit, the implementation of rideshare safety protocols, the removal of Essure birth control from the U.S. market, changes in the Catholic Church, removal of asbestos-laced talcum powder from the market, and many more.

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