Two cheerleaders linked to Netflix’s “Cheer” program were arrested and charged this week in separate cases involving alleged sexual misconduct against minors.
Coach and choreographer Robert Joseph Scianna Jr., 25, was arrested on Wednesday in Virginia, charged with the crime of taking indecent liberties with a child and using an electronic communication device to solicit sex, the Chesterfield County Police Department said. , according to WRIC-TV of Richmond, Va.
Scianna reportedly requested sex from a minor on social media, WRIC reported. He was held at Chesterfield County Jail without bail.
He appeared on the show’s fourth episode, People magazine reported.
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College cheerleader Mitchell Ryan, 23, was also arrested on Wednesday in Texas for alleged aggravated child molestation related to a July incident, according to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department , USA Today reported.
Robert Joseph Scianna Jr., left, and Mitchell Ryan
(Chesterfield County Police Department / Dallas County Sheriff’s Department)
Ryan was on the Navarro College cheerleading team, which was featured on the show, but did not appear himself, People reported.
Ryan’s lawyer, Jeremy Rosenthal, told the newspaper that the arrest was a “nightmare” for him and his family.
“We hope that Dallas County hears the truth and this case is closed,” said Rosenthal.
Ryan deposited his $ 50,000 bond and was released Friday morning, People reported.
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The arrests of Scianna and Ryan were not the first related to the show.
Last September, “Cheer” star Jerry Harris, who was also part of the Navarro College team, was arrested on federal pornography charges and in December faced seven additional charges of sex crimes and child pornography, according to reports.
In the indictment, obtained by Fox News, federal prosecutors charge Harris with seven charges related to five minors. Four of the charges claim that Harris intentionally used, persuaded, induced and induced a minor to “engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of transmitting a live visual representation of such conduct”.
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At the time, a Netflix spokesman told Fox News in a statement: “Like everyone else, we are shocked by this news. Any abuse of minors is a terrible crime and we respect the legal process.”
Melissa Roberto, from Fox News, contributed to this report.