The son of “Cheer” star Monica Aldama has been arrested in Texas on charges of possessing child sex abuse images, according to court records and his representatives.
William Austin Aldama, 27, who appeared only briefly in the Netflix documentary, which focused on his mother and the team she coached, is charged with 10 counts that were filed last week, Navarro County court records show.
More details about the allegations were not available in online records Tuesday night.
Court records show 10 counts of possession with intent to promote child pornography, a third-degree felony, listed, along with a date in July 2022.
Austin Aldama’s attorneys, Heather Barbieri and Kerri Donica, said he is innocent.
“In response to the recent media scrutiny surrounding our client, Austin Aldama, we want to set the record straight. The attention drawn to this case, fueled solely by the celebrity status of his mother, is an egregious attempt to distort the truth,” they said in a statement.
“Let us be absolutely clear — Austin is innocent. 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.”
TMZ first reported details of the indictment, which court records appear to show was filed last Wednesday.
“Cheer” was a Netflix documentary about Monica Aldama as coach of Navarro College’s competitive cheer squad.
Austin Aldama appeared in two episodes as himself during the show, which ran two seasons, according to the website IMDb.
He is free on bond, court records show.
The Navarro County District Attorney’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment after business hours Tuesday night.
Another person on the show, breakout star Jerry Harris, was also charged in connection with a case involving child sexual abuse images.
Harris, 24, was sentenced in July 2022 to 12 years in federal prison. Prosecutors said the illegal acts involved victims in Texas, Florida and Illinois.
In February 2022, Harris pleaded guilty to a count of receipt of child pornography and a count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
That case involved sexually explicit photographs and videos that Harris repeatedly requested from a 17-year-old boy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago has said. Harris also requested and received images from two other minor boys and tried to entice one of them into sexual activity, the office said.
Barbieri and Donica, Austin Aldama’s attorneys, called on the public to refrain from premature judgments in the case.
