LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach John Geddert died by suicide after being charged with human trafficking.
Geddert, the 2012 U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics head coach with ties to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, was charged Thursday with turning his Michigan gym into a yearslong criminal enterprise by coercing girls to train under him and then verbally and physically abusing them.
Geddert was charged with two dozen crimes, including forms of human trafficking, a step that prosecutors acknowledged was an uncommon use of Michigan law.
He was also accused of lying to investigators in 2016 when he denied ever hearing complaints about Nassar, who is serving decades in prison for sexually assaulting female athletes in a scandal that counted hundreds of victims and turned USA Gymnastics upside down.