Two cheerleaders connected to the Netflix show “Cheer” 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 Wednesday in Virginia, charged with felony 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 allegedly solicited sex from a minor on social media, WRIC reported. He was being held in the Chesterfield County Jail without bond.
He had appeared on the show’s fourth episode, People magazine reported.
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College cheerleader Mitchell Ryan, 23, also was arrested Wednesday, in Texas, for alleged felony aggravated sexual assault of a child 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 cheer team, which was featured on the show, but did not appear on the show himself, People reported.
Ryan’s attorney, Jeremy Rosenthal, told the newspaper the arrest has been a “nightmare” for him and his family.
“We look forward to Dallas County hearing the truth and this case being over,” Rosenthal said.
Ryan posted 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 connected to the show.
Last September, “Cheer” star Jerry Harris, who was also on the Navarro College team, was arrested on federal pornography charges and by December faced seven additional sex crime and child porn charges, according to reports.
In the indictment, obtained by Fox News, federal prosecutors charge Harris with seven counts relating to five minors. Four of the counts allege Harris knowingly used, persuaded, induced and enticed a minor to “engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of transmitting a live visual depiction of such conduct.”
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At the time, a Netflix spokesperson told Fox News in a statement: “Like everyone we are shocked by this news. Any abuse of minors is a terrible crime and we respect the legal process.”
Fox News’ Melissa Roberto contributed to this report.
