Gardner’s sentence was the maximum possible span that U.S.District Judge Kristi Johnson could issue.Gardner was ordered to serve 30 years in prison for each of the three federal child pornography production charges, which he pleaded guilty to.CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGESean Gardner, 39, was sentenced to 90 years in prison for pleading guilty to three different charges of child pornography production involving his youth female students.
(AP IMAGES)The 39-year-old was arrested by the FBI last summer, which was first reported by the Associated Press.The charges against Gardner sent a shock wave through the sport, as U.S.
gymnastics came under fire after another instance where its athletes were not protected enough from sexual abuse.The most well-known case was Larry Nassar’s conviction, where he was found guilty of sexually assaulting at least 265 young women and girls during a 22-year period, which included many Olympic and U.S.women’s national gymnasts.OKLAHOMA WINS NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR FOURTH TIME IN FIVE YEARSIn Gardner’s case, he pleaded guilty to placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi, between December 2017 and April 2018, where he would record his students.An investigation found that Gardner created videos with close-up images of at least 10 minors naked or undressing.
Investigators found the videos on his computers years later while looking into claims that he was sexually abusing gymnasts in Iowa.Some of Gardner’s former students at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, claimed he used his position to prey on them, citing so in police reports and civil lawsuits.Ragan Smith competes on the balance beam during the P&G Gymnastics Championships at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug.18, 2017.
(Getty Images)Gardner was a key coach for top youth gymnasts that would frequent the institute founded by Liang "Chow" Qiao, another prominent co...