Two more men featured on Netflix’s “Cheer” program were arrested and charged with sexual misconduct involving children.
Navarro College cheerleader Mitchell Ryan, 23, was arrested near Dallas on Wednesday on suspicion of aggravated sexual assault on a child, according to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department records.
He was arrested on Thursday and released on bail on Friday. The alleged crime dates back to July 24, according to the records.
Technician and choreographer Robert Joseph Scianna Jr., 25, was arrested on Wednesday based on allegations of indecency with a child and “using an electronic communication device to request sex,” police said in a statement from the county. Chesterfield, Virginia.
“The investigation indicates that Scianna met a young male through a social media platform and arranged to meet the young man for sex,” the department said.
The investigation is ongoing. Scianna is being held without bail, Chesterfield police said.
Attempts to contact representatives of the men were unsuccessful. Netflix and three producers behind “Cheer”, a series of documents that followed a group of student cheerleaders at Navarro College, Texas, as they prepared for the competition, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ryan’s lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal told USA Today, who previously reported news of the arrests: “This has been a nightmare for Mitch and his family. We hope that Dallas County hears the truth and this case is closed.”
This week’s arrests came after one of the show’s stars, Jerry Harris, 21, was arrested in September on a federal charge of producing child pornography. At the time, his spokesman said in a statement, “We categorically contest the allegations made against Jerry Harris, which would have occurred when he was a teenager.”
In December, Harris faced additional charges, including encouraging a minor “to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce a visual representation of such conduct”.
Harris pleaded not guilty to the charges.
