Police search home of ex-gymnast coach tied to Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal

Grand Ledge police and state authorities searched the Grand Ledge home of a former USA Gymnastics coach as well as the club he ran where victims of convicted serial rapist Larry Nassar trained, officials said.

“As part of its investigation into gymnastics coach John Geddert, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s prosecution team has — with the help of the Michigan State Police and the Grand Ledge Police Department — executed search warrants this morning on his residence and Twistars, his coaching facility," Nessel spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney said in a statement Tuesday. 

Nessel in February announced her office was investigating Geddert, who ran Twistars USA in Dimondale.

In December, Nessel said her investigation into how Michigan State University handled complaints about Nassar was at an "impasse" over the university withholding thousands of documents.

A year-long investigation by special prosecutor William Forsyth of the AG's office led to criminal charges against former MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, former head gymnastics coach Kathie Klages and former College of Osteopathic Medicine dean William Strampel. 

Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison in 2017 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. The next year, he pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual assault against minors, and was sentenced to 175 years in state prison. Nassar was sentenced to 40-125 years in 2018 after he pleaded guilty to three more sexual assault charges.

Geddert, who was one of Michigan's most accomplished women's gymnastics coaches before the sex scandal, was suspended in 2018 by USA Gymnastics. The Eaton County Sheriff's Office opened an investigation of him in February 2018 but a spokeswoman said Tuesday that inquiry is no longer active. 

Geddert was the U.S. coach at the 2012 Olympics. He also was the personal coach of 2011 national champion Jordyn Wieber, who who confronted Nassar during the sentencing hearing along with fellow Olympian Aly Raisman.

John Manly, a California-based lawyer who has represented numerous Nassar victims, called the searches of Twistars and Geddert's home "long overdue."

“Geddert was the handpicked by USA Gymnastics, the (U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee) and the Karolyis to coach our 2012 Olympic Team. Every member of the Fierce Five was sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar under his watch," Manly said in a statement. "It is now time for search warrants to be served on USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee so that Nassar’s victims and the public will finally discover who within these organizations actively concealed Nassar’s crimes.”