The FBI has arrested former gymnastics coach Sean Michael Gardner, 38, on federal child-sexual-exploitation charges stemming from alleged misconduct at elite training centers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Iowa. An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Mississippi accuses Gardner of secretly recording underage gymnasts with a hidden camera and producing illicit images between 2004 and 2022, first at Athletes in Motion in Prairieville, then at Jump’In Gymnastics in Purvis, and most recently at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines. Investigators recovered roughly 50 video files and 400 photographs depicting girls—some as young as six—undressing, using the toilet or undergoing stretches. Gardner was provisionally suspended from coaching by the U.S. Center for SafeSport in 2022 after initial abuse reports, yet he remained employed outside the sport until the search of his Iowa home in May uncovered the material. The single federal count of producing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct carries a potential 30-year prison term; additional charges could follow. Gardner is being held in Polk County, Iowa, pending transfer to Mississippi for further proceedings. The FBI said it believes he “primarily targeted children” who trained at the three gyms and urged anyone with information to contact its Jackson field office. SafeSport’s inquiry remains open, and USA Gymnastics said it is cooperating with law-enforcement authorities.