John Geddert, a former US Olympics women's gymnastics head coach, died by suicide on Thursday. He was found dead hours after he was criminally charged with 24 offenses, including sexual assault, racketeering and human trafficking, by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
"My office has been notified that the body of John Geddert was found late this afternoon after taking his own life," Nessel said in a statement on Thursday. "This is a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved."
Geddert, who had ties with disgraced doctor Larry Nassar, convicted of serial sexual abuse, was supposed to turn himself in at the Eaton County Sheriff's Department at 2:15 p.m. Eastern but never showed up, according to the Detroit News. 63-year-old Geddert was charged with "allegations focus around multiple acts of verbal, physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by the defendant against multiple young women." He was also accused of criminal sexual assault of a teen.
"I am grateful for these survivors coming forward to cooperate with our investigation and for bravely sharing their stories," Nessel said at the time the charges were filed.
Geddert was the owner of Twistars gymnastics club near Dimondale, Michigan, where several gymnasts alleged they were sexually abused by Nassar. He was the Olympics women's gymnastics team doctor during Geddert's tenure as head coach. Nassar was sentenced to 175 years in prison in 2018.
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