Two cheerleaders featured on Netflix’s Cheer series were arrested in separate criminal cases related to alleged sexual misconduct involving minors, months after one of the program’s stars was accused of child pornography.
Robert Joseph Scianna Jr., a 25-year-old trainer and choreographer, was arrested on Wednesday in Virginia and accused of taking indecent liberties with a child and using an electronic communication device to request sex.
The Chesterfield County Police Department said he made an appointment with a 14-year-old boy he met through a social media platform for sex. He was arrested before the meeting.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Ryan, a member of the Navarro College cheerleading team who also participated in Cheer, was arrested the same day in Texas. Ryan, 23, was charged with aggravated sexual assault on a child related to an incident that allegedly occurred in July, according to USA Today, citing records from the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.
Robert Joseph Scianna Jr., 25, and Mitchell Ryan, 23, were arrested on Wednesday in separate criminal cases related to alleged sexual misconduct involving minors
Scianna, 25, appeared briefly on Netflix’s Cheer. He was shown in the fourth episode
Scianna is seen briefly in the fourth episode with Gabi Butler
The Chesterfield County Police Department said Scianna made an appointment with a 14-year-old boy he met through a social media platform for sex. He was arrested before meeting him
Scianna is a 25-year-old trainer and choreographer with a large international fan base
Scianna was charged with the crime of taking indecent liberties with a child and using an electronic communication device to request sex
“This has been a nightmare for Mitch and his family,” said Ryan’s lawyer, Jeremy Rosenthal.
“We are looking forward to the Dallas County hearing the truth and this case is closed.” Rosenthal declined to comment further.
Netflix declined to comment on the arrests, but referred to an earlier statement made after star Jerry Harris was arrested for child pornography and further charges: ‘Like everyone else, we are shocked by this news. Any abuse of minors is a terrible crime and we respect the legal process. ‘
In December, Cheer star Jerry Harris pleaded not guilty to several criminal charges, three months after he was first arrested and accused of producing child pornography.
In December, Harris, who was already facing federal charges of child pornography, was indicted on new charges alleging that he solicited sex from minors in cheering competitions and convinced teenagers to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves.
The new seven-count charge that went public in December was not unexpected.
In the original complaint filed in September, prosecutors not only claimed that Harris admitted to FBI agents that he asked a teenager to send him obscene photos of himself, but that he also requested child pornography on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 people who knew. be smaller.
Harris, 21, of Naperville, Illinois, has been detained in a federal detention center without bail since he was arrested in September, and a judge later suggested that Harris would pose a public danger if released from custody.
The allegations are that he convinced teenagers to send sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves
Lawyers for two of Harris’s alleged victims, teenage brothers who sued Harris in Texas, praised the authorities’ willingness to continue to ‘locate the victims and take action’.
“This was possible because the mother of our clients initially had the courage to report Harris to the FBI and provide evidence of the manipulation, sexual harassment, abuse and exploitation suffered by their children,” say lawyers Morgan Stewart and Sarah Klein read.
Harris, who was born in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale and raised in Bolingbrook, was the emerging star of the Emmy-winning docuseries that follows the team of cheerleaders at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas.
Cheer was an instant hit when it launched in January 2020.
Harris attracted fans for his optimistic attitude and his encouraging ‘small talk’.