Two other men associated with the Netflix show “Cheer” have been arrested and charged with sexual misconduct involving children.
Mitchell Ryan, 23, a Navarro College teammate, was arrested near Dallas on Wednesday for sexually assaulting a child, according to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.
He was jailed on Thursday and released early Friday. The alleged offense dates back to July 24, according to the records.
Coach and choreographer Robert Joseph Scianna Jr. (25) was arrested on Wednesday on allegations of immorality with a child and ‘using an electronic communication device to have sex’, Chesterfield County, Virginia police said in a statement.
“The investigation indicates that Scianna met a juvenile man through a social media platform and arranged to meet the juvenile for sex,” the department said.
The investigation continues. Scianna is being held without connection, Chesterfield police said.
Attempts to contact a representative for Scianna were unsuccessful. Netflix and three production companies behind ‘Cheer’, a documentary series that a group of student cheerleaders followed at Navarro College in Texas while preparing for competition, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ryan’s lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal said in an email: “Mitch and his family were surprised by his arrest. There are two sides to every story, and we are confident that Mitch’s name will be cleared.”
This week’s arrests come after one of the stars of the show, Jerry Harris, 21, was arrested in September on a federal allegation of child pornography production. At the time, his spokesman said in a statement: “We categorically dispute the allegations against Jerry Harris, which allegedly took place when he was a teenager.”
In December, Harris faced additional allegations, including enticing a minor “to act sexually explicitly with the intent to provide a visual depiction of such behavior.”
Harris pleaded not guilty to the charges.
