NEWSFormer U.S. Gymnastics Coach With Ties To Larry Nassar Commits Suicide After Being Charged With Sexually Abusing Girls
Feb. 25 2021, Updated 6:37 p.m. ET
A former U.S. women's gymnastics coach has killed himself just hours after he was charged with dozens of crimes, according to local reports.
John Geddert shot himself on Thursday, February 25, in Michigan, and his suicide was confirmed by the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, according to NBC 25 News.
"My office has been notified that the body of John Geddert was found late this afternoon after taking his own life," Nessel wrote in a statement. "This is a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved."
Earlier on Thursday, Geddart was charged with 24 counts for his treatment of girls during his time running Twistars USA Gymnastics Club in Lansing, Mich. Charges ranged from sexual assault to human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise.
Had he lived and was found guilty, he very likely would have spent the rest of his life in prison.
According to a statement released after the press conference held today, a full list of the charges against him include:
● 14 counts of human trafficking, forced labor causing injury, a 15-year felony
● Six counts of human trafficking of a minor for forced labor, a 20-year felony
● One count of continuing criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony
● One count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, a life offense felony
● One count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a 15-year felony
● One count of lying to a peace officer during a violent crime investigation, a four-year felony
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Court documents obtained by ESPN say the sexual assault charges stem from an incident in 2012 when Geddart allegedly assaulted a girl between the ages of 13 and 16.
Officials from the Michigan Attorney General’s Office said in a Thursday press conference that his treatment of young gymnasts qualifies as human trafficking because he reportedly subjected his athletes to forced labor or services under extreme conditions that contributed to them suffering injuries and harm.
Geddert also reportedly neglected the injuries of his athletes that were reported to him and used coercion, intimidation, threats and physical force to get them to continue performing.
“These allegations focus around multiple acts of verbal, physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by the defendant against multiple young women,” Nessel said during the press conference. “I am grateful for these survivors coming forward to cooperate with our investigation and for bravely sharing their stories.”
When asked how many young women were involved in the conduct, Nessel did not give an exact number, but said it was “less than 50.”
The late 63-year-old also had ties to Larry Nassar, the convicted serial rapist and sex offender and former USA Gymnastics national team doctor who caught national attention for his crimes involving numerous Olympic gymnasts, including Aly Raisman. Nassar was Geddart’s team physician for 20 years, as well as his in-house medical expert at Twisters.
Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison in July 2017 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. In January 2018, he was sentenced to 175 years in a Michigan state prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of sexual assault of minors. A month later, he was sentenced to an additional 40-125 years in prison after pleading guilty to an additional three counts of sexual assault.
In an interview with ESPN, Sarah Klein, one of Nassar’s victims said, "John and Larry enabled each other to abuse. They both deserve to be held to account."
"We now know that dozens of promising young athletes had their lives ruined by Larry Nassar at John Geddert's gym,” she told the outlet. “The survivors of this horrendous abuse can now look forward to Geddert being held criminally responsible for enabling the most prolific serial sexual abuser in the history of sport."
