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US Olympic gymnastics coach John Geddert killed himself after accused of trafficking 22 children & making girls suicidal
US Olympic gymnastics John Geddert drove two of his victims to the brink of suicide with his abuse, new court documents reveal.
Prosecutors have revealed the 63-year-old – who took his own life on Thursday – was hit with human trafficking of 22 victims and one count of sexual assault
John Geddert took his own life after facing a raft of charges[/caption]
The coach owned a gym, where he drove gymnasts to the brink of suicide[/caption]
Geddert was the head coach of the 2012 US women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which won a gold medal.
He previously owned Michigan’s famed Twistars USA Gymnastics Club, where disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar admitted sexually abusing many young female athletes.
As well as the human trafficking charges, prosecutors in Michigan have outlined the abuse Geddert is alleged to have carried out on his victims.
One of them, identified in court documents as B.A., trained at the Twistars gym between 2010 and 2013.
Prosecutors said that despite being 5’3′ and 118 pounds but Geddert repeatedly called her fat and subjected her to daily weigh-ins.
He only allowed her to eat fruit and vegetables and was required to get on a treadmill at top speed while Geddert screamed at her.
His verbal abuse caused her to quit eating, develop panic attacks and start picking at her skin.
Geddert would regularly scream at girls in the gym[/caption]
Larry Nassar admitted abusing young gymnasts at Geddert’s Twistars gym[/caption]
She tried to take her own life in October 2012 but Geddert required her to apologize to him for her suicide attempt, said prosecutors.
Geddert was concerned that the “suicide attempt would ruin him and would ruin her as well, ensuring that she never got a scholarship”.
“At the meeting it was decided that they would lie and she would say she had an allergic reaction.”
The girl told prosecutors the coach would enter the girls’ locker room to yell at them and she grew increasingly afraid of him and fearful he would ruin her future if she moved gyms.
Another victim, M.T., trained at Twistars from 2004 until 2013 and told prosecutors she attempted to take her own life by overdosing on prescription drugs in May 2014.
In December 2012 she had neck surgery to numb her nerves after repeated concussions, but Geddert required her to return to practice after just one week.
Makayla Thrush said Geddert’s suicide was an admission of guilt[/caption]
The surgery impacted her depth perception and she hit the back of her neck on the bar.
But Geddert screamed at her, calling her a “baby” and a “sissy” prosecutors said.
That same year, he was spotting M.T. on the uneven bars when he grabbed her at the waist and threw her into the bars, striking her face and neck on the low bar.
Another time, Geddert pulled M.T. aside and called her a “disrespectful b***h” and told her she “should climb off the top of the rafters of the gym, jump off and kill herself”.
Despite his suicide, can still sue Geddert’s estate in civil court where the evidentiary bar is lower — and there’s a decent chance they can win a monetary judgment.
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One of his alleged victims has said she believes Geddert’s death was an admission of guilt.
Makayla Thrush, who was coached by Geddert from the age of seven up until she was 17 said: “Honestly, no closure for me at all,”
“If you’re not guilty, personally, I would have fought it. That’s anybody’s general reaction.”
