One of the coaches admits to stabbing training gymnasts with drywall screws for years. Investigators said it happened at Ace Gymnastics in Longwood, where one of the owners is an Olympian.
The phrase "stick it" is used in gymnastics about dismounts and landings, but one of the coaches told investigators he was taught to stick them when the gymnasts don't have perfect form.
Seminole County sheriff's investigators said Coach Mike Turner and another coach repeatedly stabbed one of the boys and a brother repeatedly with dry wall screws, breaking the skin on their buttocks, leaving permanent scarring.
Last year, their mother noticed the scars during bathing and found out what was happening. Investigators said she told the owner, former Olympian Joan Moore Gnat, about it and they said Ace Gymnastics hired a new head coach and made sure the practice stopped.
But Ace never told all the other parents about it, never reported the alleged abuse to law enforcement and kept the two coaches on staff.
Eyewitness News asked Gnat what she didn't alert the parents and tell them there was a problem going on.
"Because there wasn't another problem at the time," she said. "It was a resolved issue with the parent and it was something that had happened months before that."
Investigators said the boys, ages 8 and 10, have been in counseling for a year and recently the counselor convinced the mother to report the abuse to law enforcement.
Ace Gymnastics' Website touts the gym as a place "where all children excel," but Seminole County sheriff's investigators said the words "or else" were implied by coaches Turner and Chris Bonn.
"From what it appears now, the nail was chosen because of its ability to provide a level of pain compliance," said sheriff's spokesman Lt. Dennis Lemma.
A second mother has since come forward, saying her son was also subjected to the drywall screw for less than perfect form.
"If they weren't tight enough or in the right positions," the mother, who didn't want to be identified, told Eyewitness News. "He just said it hurt. He's a child. He's not gonna go into detail, but he said it hurt and it was degrading."
She said she just found out from another parent a few days ago, and was told to make sure her son had a tetanus shot and blood testing.
"Children were being stuck, child to child, breaking skin," she said.
Investigators said Turner admitted to have been doing it for eight years. Younger Coach Chris Bonn told investigators Turner did it to him as a student, so he learned to do it as a coach.
Investigators said Turner's reasoning was a gymnast's mistake could cause a much more serious injury than a stab wound from a little screw. Investigators don't see it as protecting the gymnasts. They see it as a crime and believe prosecutors should, too.
The mothers said they believe their sons never spoke up about the abuse for a number of reasons; they were intimidated, they did not want to jeopardize their training and they did not want to appear to be crybabies.
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