Deceased former U.S. Olympic gymnastics coach John Geddert is alleged to have routinely abused his athletes to the point that multiple gymnasts attempted suicide, according to court documents obtained by ESPN.
Investigators say that former Olympic gymnastics coach John Geddert sexually assaulted a 14-year old and routinely abused his gymnasts physically and verbally, leading multiple gymnasts to attempt suicide, according to court documents obtained by ESPN. Geddert was charged with 24 felonies Thursday morning, including multiple counts of human trafficking and sexual assault. Hours later, he was found dead in his car at an interstate highway rest stop. Michigan’s attorney general Dana Nessel confirmed that his death was by suicide. Geddert,63, coached the 2012 Olympic team to a gold medal in London and worked closely with disgraced national team doctor Larry Nassar for more than a quarter century. Among the charges against Geddert was a claim that he lied to police about his knowledge of Nassar’s serial sexual abuse, much of which took place in the gym that Geddert owned, Twistars USA Gymnastics Club. When the news broke of Geddert’s suicide, the gymnastics community reacted with a mix of shock and anger, stemming largely from a concern Geddert’s alleged crimes would not be revealed in full during his criminal trial and his victims would not have an opportunity to get some form of closure. «Someone who cannot own up to their actions, especially actions that have negatively affected young children into their adult lives forever, is the biggest coward there is,» said Lindsey Hull, who trained with Geddert at Twistars and says she was sexually assaulted by Nassar on hundreds of occasions at the club. «The case is considered done, but we’ll never have an actual ending. Only what we can assume.» ESPN has obtained a court document, first reported by Detroit News, which reveals at least some of the information that might have come out in open court, had Geddert not taken his own life. The allegations detailed by a special investigator with the Michigan Attorney General’s office paint a picture of a coach who routinely terrorized and assaulted young girls at his gym. In court testimony Wednesday morning, the investigator detailed Geddert’s alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old gymnast. Geddert, the investigator said, followed the gymnast into the Twistars locker room after practice and threw her up against the wall. The gymnast was wearing her leotard at the time, which had been pulled down to her waist. Geddert groped her under her bra and then lifted her up while inserting a finger into her vagina, according to the court testimony.
