Posted in: Netflix, streaming, TV | Tagged: bleeding cool, cable, cheer, cheerleading, Jeremiah "Jerry" Harris, Jeremiah Harris, jerry harris, Mitchell Ryan, netflix, preview, Robert Joseph Scianna, streaming, teaser, television, trailer, tv

Cheer Docuseries Members Accused of Sex Crimes Involving Minors

Close to five months after Cheer star Jeremiah "Jerry" Harris was accused by federal prosecutors in Chicago of "enticing an underage boy to produce sexually explicit videos and photos of himself" and two months after he was indicted on additional charges, two more members of the Netflix docuseries are finding themselves in trouble with the law. On Wednesday, Mitchell Ryan and Robert Joseph Scianna were arrested and charged in separate sex crime cases involving minors.

Previously a member of the Navarro College squad featured in the streaming series, Ryan (23) was arrested by police in Coppell, Texas, on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child on July 24, according to Dallas County Sheriff's Department records. Ryan was booked on Thursday and released the following morning on a $50,000 bond. "Mitch and his family were surprised by this arrest," said Jeremy Rosenthal, Ryan's attorney, to CNN Saturday. "There are two sides to every story and we are confident Mitch's name will be cleared."

Appearing in one episode of Cheer, Scianna (25) was arrested in Virginia after soliciting sex from a juvenile online through a social media platform, according to Chesterfield County Police. According to the police statement, Scianna is charged with "taking indecent liberties with a child and using an electronic communication device to solicit sex" and that "he arranged to meet a juvenile whom he came to know through social media for sex." He is being held in the Chesterfield County Jail without bond, according to the Chesterfield County Police- who are still investigating and asking anyone with information to contact them.

As previously mentioned, Harris is facing a lawsuit by two accusers alleging Harris "exploited his popularity and position of fame with young male cheer athletes" and that Harris would attempt to get them to meet him "in secluded locations at various competitions, soliciting sexual conduct with these boys." In December, Harris was indicted on new federal charges of "allegedly enticing minors to engage in sexual activity, including soliciting them to send him sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves, according to court documents." At the time of the initial lawsuit in September, a Harris spokesperson released a statement disputing the accusations: "We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager." As of this writing, the Netflix docuseries is still available on the streaming service.

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