The following article mentions child sexual abuse. Please read with caution.
TMZ has reported that Cheer star Monica Aldama’s son, Austin Aldama, was arrested on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Texas.
Cheer, which premiered in 2020, is a documentary series following the competitive Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team, coached by Monica. Season two of the show aired in 2022, and as of this report, it was unclear if there would be a third season. Monica was a contestant on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars in 2020. Two years later, in 2022, Monica published Full Out: Lessons in Life and Leadership from America’s Favorite Coach.
Austin’s legal problems were not the first for the popular Netflix series. In 2022, cheerleader Jerry Harris, who appeared on the show, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on one count of receiving child pornography and one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Harris pleaded guilty, according to TMZ.
Austin Aldama has also been charged with possessing child pornography
The Daily Mail reports, like Jerry Harris, Cheer coach Monica Aldama’s son was arrested on 10 counts of possessing child pornography, some depicting children as young as 10. Austin, who was 27 at the time, was released on bond but was forced to submit to random drug testing, avoid pornography, and allow the authorities to search his devices. As of this report, Austin had not yet entered a plea. Nor had Monica spoken publically about her son’s arrest.
Monica’s legal problems
Before her son’s arrest, Monica was accused of telling a member of her cheer team to keep quiet regarding an alleged sexual assault in a lawsuit. The suit was dropped in 2023. As for Austin’s case, his lawyers told Page Six, “The charges against him lack legal merit, and we are confident that the facts, which will prove his innocence, will come to light during the legal proceedings.”