Former American Olympic gymnastics coach John Geddert committed suicide on Thursday, a few hours after he was accused of two dozen crimes resulting from allegations that he physically, emotionally and sexually abused the gymnasts in his care.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel confirmed that Geddert took his own life Thursday afternoon, calling his death “a tragic end to a tragic story for all involved.”
Michigan State Police confirmed that Geddert’s body was found at an interstate rest stop at 3:24 p.m. ET this afternoon.
Geddert, 63, was scheduled to be tried in Eaton County, Michigan, on Thursday afternoon.
Michigan officials have charged Geddert with 24 counts: 20 counts of trafficking in human beings and forced labor, one count of first-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault, racketeering and lying to a police officer. A Michigan attorney general’s attorney’s office also said Thursday that Geddert knew American gymnast Larry Nassar sexually abused patients at the gym where both men worked and lied to police about it during an investigation in 2016. about Nassar.
The rest of the allegations against Geddert are related to his own behavior with the gymnasts he trained at the gyms he owned in Michigan. Law enforcement began investigating Geddert in February 2018 following complaints about his abusive training style during Nassar’s sentencing hearing.
Geddert previously owned Twistars USA Gymnastics in Dimondale, Michigan, outside Lansing, where dozens of women say Nassar sexually assaulted them under the guise of receiving medical treatment. Geddert and Nassar worked side by side for more than a quarter of a century, when they both climbed to the top in elite gymnastics.
Geddert has long been seen in the gymnastics community as one of Nassar’s main facilitators. Already in the late 1980s, at the Great Lakes Gymnastics Club in Lansing, before he even became a licensed physician, Nassar began sexually assaulting minor gymnasts at his training table, according to several women.
The former coach rose to national fame in the early 2000s and was named coach of the United States national team for the London 2012 Olympic Games. His role as national coach led him to travel the world with the best gymnasts in the United States. gymnasts, including all the members of the famous Fierce Five who won gold in London, say they were abused by Nassar during his international travels.
Former Olympian McKayla Maroney says she was in a car with Geddert on one of those international trips to Tokyo during the 2011 World Championships. During the car trip, Maroney graphically described how Nassar touched – improperly during a treatment session during the night. before, according to several people who heard his comments. Geddert did not react at the time based on the accounts of the passengers in the car, but has since denied hearing Maroney’s comments.
US gymnastics suspended Geddert during Nassar’s sentencing hearing in January 2018, amid a large number of public complaints from former gymnasts, who described his abusive training style. Geddert has announced that he is retiring as coach a few days after US Gymnastics suspended him. He transferred ownership of the US Twistars to his wife and training partner in 2018. The gym was sold to new owners earlier this month.
He was the fifth person to face criminal charges in the Nassar case. Former US Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny was arrested on charges of falsifying evidence in 2018. In the state of Michigan, where Nassar worked, former President Lou Anna Simon, former dean of William Strampel Medical School and former gymnastics coach Kathie Klages they were charged with crimes. Strampel, Nassar’s former boss, served an eight-month sentence before being released last spring. Klages was convicted of lying to police in August 2020 and sentenced to 90 days in prison. The charges against Simon were dropped in May 2020, but the Attorney General’s office is appealing the decision, Nessel said on Thursday.
Nassar, 57, is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence for child pornography charges at a federal prison near Orlando, Florida, but is also facing an additional maximum of up to 175 years in prison for his sentences with state charges in Ingham and Eaton. , Michigan County. Earlier this month, Nassar appealed his case to the Michigan Supreme Court. Nessel said on Thursday that Nassar’s ruling should be upheld, describing it as “a fair and just sentence”.