China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Ex-US Olympic coach kills self after being charged in sex assaults
A former US Olympic gymnastics coach killed himself Thursday hours after being charged with sexually assaulting and physically abusing young athletes in Michigan, according to authorities.
John Geddert, 63, was supposed to appear in a court near Lansing. His body was found with a selfinflicted gunshot wound at a rest area along Interstate 96, according to state police. No other details were immediately released.
“This is a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.
Nessel earlier announced that Geddert was charged with two dozen crimes, including sexual assault, human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. The charges were the latest fallout from the sexual abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar, a former Michigan State University sports doctor now in prison.
Geddert, 63, was head coach of the 2012 US women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which won a gold medal. He was long associated with Nassar, who was the Olympic team’s doctor and also treated injured gymnasts at Twistars, Geddert’s Lansing-area gym.
Among the charges, Geddert was accused of lying to investigators in 2016 when he denied ever hearing complaints about Nassar. But the bulk of the case against him involved his gym and how he treated the young athletes whose families paid to have them trained by him.
Geddert was charged with using his strong reputation in gymnastics to commit a form of human trafficking by making money through the forced labor of young athletes.
“The victims suffer from disordered eating, including bulimia and anorexia, suicide attempts and attempts at self harm, excessive physical conditioning, repeatedly being forced to perform even when injured, extreme emotional abuse and physical abuse, including sexual assault,’’ Nessel said.
Geddert was suspended by Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics during the Nassar scandal. He told families in 2018 that he was retiring.
On his LinkedIn page, Geddert described himself as the “most decorated women’s gymnastics coach in Michigan gymnastics history”. He said his Twistars teams won 130 club championships.