Attorney rips USA Gymnastics amid lawsuit over alleged failure to protect athletes from sexual abuse
USA Gymnastics is facing another lawsuit for allegedly failing to protect female athletes from sexual abuse The latest lawsuit alleges USA Gymnastics and the U S Center for SafeSport were informed about a coach Sean Gardner performing inappropriate and abusive behaviors but failed to properly investigate The attorney representing the plaintiffs in the episode John Manly who previously represented stars including Simone Biles in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse lawsuit against USA Gymnastics called the organization's negligence despicable in a report to Fox News Digital USA Gymnastics was aware of in that Gardner was a serious present danger to children USAG revealed nothing and permitted a predator to prey upon children in Iowa without warning to parents Their conduct is shocking and despicable Manly announced CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMA USA Gymnastics spokesperson narrated Fox News Digital in response As litigation is ongoing we cannot offer comment The lawsuits allege all the defendants were negligent in how they responded to reports of Gardner s misconduct which included hugging and kissing girls and engaging in other grooming behaviors while coaching at a Mississippi gym The parents of a gymnast filed reports with USA Gymnastics and SafeSport in December alleging Gardner required girls to give him long hugs after every training in Mississippi and that he kicked one girl out who refused the lawsuits claim FORMER STAR GYMNAST SLAMS USA GYMNASTICS FOR TRANS ATHLETE STRATEGY HANDLINGGardner allegedly had an improper closed-door meeting with a girl whom he verbally abused kissed gymnasts on their foreheads drank alcohol excessively in front of them made sexual jokes to girls and inappropriate comments on social media and stalked one girl who he was instructed to stop contacting the lawsuits claim The FBI arrested Gardner in August on a federal child pornography charge The arrest came more than three years after he was suspended from coaching at Chow s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines Iowa for alleged sexual abuse Chow s is the gym where U S gymnastics stars Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas trained before becoming gold medalists at the and Olympics In April another of Chow s former athletes came forward to the West Des Moines Police Department to assessment abuse accusations according to a now-sealed affidavit signed by police detective Jeff Lyon A girl informed to SafeSport in March that Gardner used inappropriate spotting techniques in which he would put his hands between her legs the affidavit reported Among the evidence seized by investigators in late May was a cellphone laptop and a desktop computer along with handwritten notes between Gardner and his former pupils according to the sealed court documents They determined images of girls approximately to years of age who were nude using the toilet or changing into leotards those documents show Those images appear to have come from a hidden camera in a restroom The Associated Press contributed to this assessment Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter
