Two cheerleaders linked to the Netflix show “Cheer” have been arrested and charged this week in separate cases involving alleged sexual misconduct against minors.
Coach and choreographer Robert Joseph Scianna Jr. (25) was arrested in Virginia on Wednesday on charges of committing obscene liberties with a child and using an electronic communication device to obtain sex, Chesterfield County police said according to Richmond WRIC-TV. , Va.
Scianna allegedly asked for sex from a minor on social media, reports WRIC. He was remanded in custody in Chesterfield County Jail.
He appears in the fourth episode of the program, reports People magazine.
NETFLIX ‘CHEER’ STAR JERRY HARRIS FACE 7 NEW SEX CRIME, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY COSTS
Colleague cheerleader Mitchell Ryan, 23, was also arrested in Texas on Wednesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a child in connection with an incident in July, according to the Sheriff’s Department of Dallas County, 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 cheerleading team, which appeared on the show but did not appear in the show himself, People reported.
Ryan’s attorney, Jeremy Rosenthal, told the newspaper the arrest was a “nightmare” for him and his family.
“We look forward to Dallas County hearing the truth and this case is over,” Rosenthal said.
Ryan reported his $ 50,000 mortgage and will be released Friday morning.
NETFLIX ‘CHEER’ STAR JERRY HARRIS CHARGED WITH PRODUCTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
The arrests of Scianna and Ryan were not the first to be linked to the show.
Last September, “Cheer” star Jerry Harris, who was also on the Navarro College team, was arrested on charges of federal pornography. By December, he had reported seven extra sex crimes and child pornography charges.
In the Fox News deed, Harris’s federal prosecutors are charged with seven counts involving five minors. Four of the counts allege that Harris knowingly used, persuaded, induced and enticed a minor to ‘act sexually explicit for the purpose of conveying a vivid visual depiction of such behavior’.
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At the time, a Netflix spokesman told Fox News in a statement: “Like everyone else, 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.