(Des Moines) The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking to identify any potential victims of former gymnastics coach, Sean Michael Gardner. If you and/or your minor dependent(s) were victimized or you know of someone victimized by Sean Michael Gardner, you may contact the FBI by following the link below:
According to allegations in the criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, between December 2017 and April 2018, Sean Michael Gardner, now 38, placed a hidden camera in a bathroom at a gymnastics studio in Purvis, Mississippi, where he was then working as a gymnastics coach. Gardner created multiple videos depicting numerous minors in stages of undress in that bathroom including close-up views of their anuses and genitals.
Gardner moved from Mississippi to Iowa in 2018 to coach at a gym in West Des Moines, Iowa. West Des Moines Police searched Gardner’s apartment in late May 2025. Forensic examination of electronic devices seized from Gardner’s West Des Moines apartment uncovered the hidden camera recordings taken in the Mississippi gym bathroom.
Gardner will remain detained in federal custody pending further proceedings in the Southern District of Mississippi.
