Coach featured in Netflix’s ‘Cheer’ told girl to keep sex assault quiet, Dallas suit says

Navarro College, home to the cheerleading squad at the center of Netflix’s docuseries “Cheer,” is accused of trying to cover up the sexual assault of a student in the fall of 2021, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Dallas on Wednesday.

During her first semester at Navarro, the lawsuit says a student from North Texas was sexually assaulted by another member of the cheer squad. When the student tried to report the assault, Navarro’s head cheer coach, other cheerleaders, campus police and the Title IX coordinator at the college discouraged her from doing so, the suit says.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas-Dallas and names the following defendants: Navarro College’s cheerleading head coach Monica Aldama, Navarro College’s Director of Athletics Michael Landers, Navarro College’s Title IX Coordinator Elizabeth Pillans and the college. The suit also names the accused assailant as a defendant.

According to the suit, Navarro College “prioritized Navarro Cheer’s reputation over the safety and well-being of Navarro College’s students, cheerleaders, and guests.”

Navarro College’s cheer team has faced multiple allegations that the college and squad foster a culture of sexual abuse and silence around reporting it. In July 2020, former star of “Cheer” Jerry Harris was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for soliciting sex from minors and pressuring young boys from Fort Worth to send him nude photos and videos.

Navarro College, Aldama, Landers and Pillans did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

‘We don’t tell anyone.’

In March 2021, the plaintiff of the lawsuit was a senior at Midland Christian High School and attended a clinic at Navarro College to try out for the cheer team for the 2021-2022 academic year. The college, located in Corsicana, boasts a nationally acclaimed cheerleading squad that was further catapulted into fame due to the Netflix 2020 docuseries about the team.

During her try out, the student who filed the lawsuit said coach Aldama offered the girl a spot on the team. (The Star-Telegram does not name victims of sexual assault.)

According to the lawsuit, the student was “shocked” by the atmosphere within Navarro Cheer in which many cheerleaders engaged in “extreme partying, drank alcohol excessively and abused drugs.” She did not participate in the parties, the suit says, and as the team member with the highest GPA, she served as the team tutor.

In September 2021, the suit says, the student’s roommate invited several male cheerleaders to their room at about 4 a.m. after a party. The student was in bed, asleep. One of the male cheerleaders went into the student’s bedroom, got into her bed and began to sexually assault her, according to the suit. The student tried to call for help and and was eventually able to push him away and told him to leave the dorm room, she said.

The next day, the suit says, the student told several team members about what happened, and they encouraged her to go to a party that evening. At the party, an older cheerleader pulled her aside and asked her about the assault, the suit says. The older girl told her, “You just need to drink it off and get your mind off of it” because “that’s what Navarro girls do—they drink. We don’t tell anyone. We just keep it to our self,” the suit states.

The older cheerleader also allegedly told the plaintiff not to tell Aldama about the assault because there was no reason to stress her out, and if she reported the incident, the school would cut the cheer program, and everyone would know why and hate her.

The same older cheerleader instructed two other male cheerleaders to escort the student everywhere to ensue she did not report the assault, the suit says. When she was not being watched, the student said, she was able to call her longtime high school boyfriend and tell him what happened. The boyfriend and several of his friends drove to the college, where they got into an argument with some of the male cheerleaders. Campus police told the boyfriend he was banned from the campus and needed to leave, the suit says.

As the boyfriend, his friends and the plaintiff drove away, they noticed a car following them. Inside, two older cheerleaders pointed guns at the boyfriend and the plaintiff and “threatened to kill them for reporting the assault,” according to the lawsuit.

‘Let’s not make this a big deal’

The student called Aldama and began to tell her about the assault, but Aldama interrupted her and said, “Let’s not make this a big deal. I want the best for you and I will help you cheer wherever you want,” the suit says. When the student quit the team several days later, Aldama told her again that “If you keep quiet, I’ll make sure you can cheer anywhere you want,” the suit states.

According to the suit, campus police and the college’s Title IX coordinator, Pillans, also discouraged her from reporting the alleged assault. Pillans told the student the Title IX Office, nor the Campus Police Department, nor the Corsicana Police Department keep a rape kit on hand, and that the regional medical center does not have a SANE registered nurse, the suit alleges. The closest rape kit available would require a drive to Waco or Dallas, Pillans allegedly said.

According to the suit, Pillans told the student that she would have to have a public hearing if she pressed charges and “the public hearing is always embarrassing and does more harm to the victim than good.”

Several weeks later, the student’s mother contacted campus police and the Title IX office for an update and was told no record of the assault report existed, the suit says.

According to the suit, the student’s “dream of cheering on a nationally ranked team is over,” and she has been “blackballed” from many nationally ranked programs.

Other allegations against Navarro

Investigations, such as a USA Today’s series published in 2021, shine a spotlight on what advocates say is a pervasive, abusive climate within cheerleading that sweeps allegations under the rug.

In September 2020, Harris was charged with child pornography and accused of assaulting and preying on multiple boys, including two boys from Fort Worth. In an episode of season two of “Cheer,” the boys spoke out about the assaults and said Harris befriended them at a national competition and began “grooming” them.

The boys and their family filed a lawsuit over the assaults that names Cheer Athletics, Varsity Spirit LLC and the United States All Star Federation as defendants. The suit, filed in September 2020, claims the organizations failed to protect the boys from a “systemically exploitative environment that has been bubbling within the All-Star Cheer community for years.” Harris worked as a coach and mentor for the organizations, which the suit claims concealed Harris’ predatory nature and endangered minors at cheerleading events.

In a petition filed in court, Cheer Athletics and its co-owner, Angela Rogers, denied responsibility for Harris’ alleged actions. The group is not responsible for “acts of third persons or entities,” the motion said.

Other cheerleaders featured in the Netflix show have faced allegations of assault. In 2018, a volunteer cheer coach for Navarro was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a student at a competition. In 2021, a former cheerleader at Navarro was charged with sexual assault of a child, and the same month a former Navarro College cheer athlete and choreographer for the cheer squad was charged with soliciting sex from a minor.