Two more men associated with the Netflix show “Cheer” have been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct involving children.
Navarro College cheer team member Mitchell Ryan, 23, was arrested near Dallas on Wednesday on suspicion of aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to Dallas County Sheriff’s Department records.
He was booked into jail Thursday and released on bond early Friday. The alleged offense dates to July 24, according to the records.
Coach and choreographer Robert Joseph Scianna Jr., 25, was arrested Wednesday based on allegations of indecency with a child and “use of an electronic communication device to solicit sex,” Chesterfield County, Virginia, police said in a statement.
“The investigation indicates that Scianna met a juvenile male through a social media platform and arranged to meet the juvenile for sex,” the department said.
The investigation is ongoing. Scianna is being held without bond, Chesterfield police said.
Attempts to contact representatives for the men were unsuccessful. Netflix and three production companies behind “Cheer,” a docuseries that followed a group of student cheerleaders at Navarro College in Texas while they prepared for competition, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A lawyer for Ryan, Jeremy Rosenthal, told USA Today, which earlier reported news of the arrests, “This has been a nightmare for Mitch and his family. We look forward to Dallas County hearing the truth and this case being over.”
This week’s arrests come after one of the show’s stars, Jerry Harris, 21, was arrested in September on a federal allegation of production of child pornography. At the time, his spokesperson said in a statement, “We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager.”
In December Harris faced additional allegations, including enticing a minor “to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.”
Harris pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
