Los Angeles: Former US Olympics women’s gymnastics coach John Geddert died by suicide Thursday. John Geddert was charged with human trafficking and abuse of athletes in his care, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. He died a few hours after the charges were made public against Geddert. “My office has been notified that the body of John Geddert was found late this (Thursday) afternoon after taking his own life,” Nessel said in a statement. “This is a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved,” Nessel added.
Earlier Thursday, Nessel had announced a 24-count complaint against Geddert. The coach owned a training facility near Lansing, Michigan, where convicted sex offender Larry Nassar served as the gym doctor.
The complaint included sexual assault charges involving an unnamed athlete between the ages of 13 and 16. It alleged that Geddert’s treatment of young gymnasts constituted human trafficking. He ‘reportedly subjected his athletes to forced labour or services under extreme conditions that contributed to them suffering injuries and harm’.
“Geddert then neglected those injuries that were reported to him by the victims. He used coercion, intimidation, threats and physical force to get them to perform to the standard he expected,” prosecutors said.
Nessel had said at a press conference streamed on social media Thursday morning that Geddert was expected to surrender to authorities at 2.15pm on Thursday to be arraigned on the charges. Michigan State Police, however, said in a statement that his body was found at a highway rest area outside Lansing at 3.24 pm. “Investigation is ongoing; no further details will be released at this time,” the statement said.
The ex-coach came under scrutiny because of his close personal and professional relationship with Nassar. The latter, a former US national team doctor has been sentenced to life in prison over the sexual abuse of multiple young female gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment.
USA Gymnastics suspended Geddert in 2018. He immediately announced his retirement and said he had ‘zero knowledge’ of Nassar’s crimes.
Amy Preston, mother of an unidentified Nassar victim who was trained at ‘Twistars’, said in court that her daughter suffered under Geddert’s emotional abuse, which she said Nassar exploited to build trust with the young gymnast. “John Geddert behaved as brutally as they say, and Larry was as kind as they speak. A very toxic and lethal combination as it turns out,” Preston said.
Prosecutors stressed Thursday that the only charge against Geddert specifically linked to Nassar was that of lying to authorities when asked whether he knew the doctor was sexually abusing athletes. Otherwise, they said, ‘the crimes alleged against Mr Geddert are his own’. He was also charged with racketeering, with prosecutors alleging he trafficked 15 athletes for financial gain.
Rachael Denhollander, a former gymnast who was the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault, tweeted that Geddert’s abusive behavior was widely known as early as 2000. “Geddert’s abuse, like so much, was never a secret. EVER,” she tweeted.
“In my memoir I wrote about knowing of it even as a club level gymnast in 2000. Because we have to grapple with the reality that it was known, and no one stopped him. It was known, and he was promoted and given more power,” Denhollander further said.