The suit names the college, cheer head coach Monica Aldama and several others as defendants, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported. Filed Wednesday in federal court in Dallas, the lawsuit details claims made by a former Navarro cheerleading “rookie.”
The plaintiff alleges that she was sexually assaulted during her first semester at Navarro, in September 2021. Before the assault, she had been a successful and happy gymnast who wanted to forge a career in cheer, according to the lawsuit.
One night that September, a male cheerleader allegedly entered the plaintiff’s bedroom sometime after 4 a.m. and started groping and sexually assaulting her, court documents show. She screamed at him to stop, which he ignored, but she was eventually able to “push him away” and demand that he leave.Navarro College of Netflix’s “Cheer” faces yet another accusation of a sexual assault within the team.
— Kaley Johnson ☀️ (@KaleyAJohnson) April 27, 2023
A lawsuit out of Dallas says coach Monica Aldama told the girl “If you keep quiet, I’ll make sure you can cheer anywhere you want.”
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The victim later confided in fellow teammates and Aldama, the latter of whom allegedly urged her to not “make this a big deal,” according to the suit. Days later, the plaintiff quit the team, prompting Aldama to tell her: "If you keep quiet, I'll make sure you can cheer anywhere you want,” the suit alleges.
The suit claims that cheer rookies were told by the team’s “veterans” to wear blackface during hazing rituals. Navarro cheerleaders also allegedly participate in “extreme partying,” including excessive drinking and snorting prescription stimulants to promote weight loss, according to court documents.
Navarro College’s Title IX coordinator and campus police discouraged the plaintiff from reporting the alleged sexual assault, according to the lawsuit. The cheer team is described in the suit as fostering a “pervasive culture of sexual harassment, sexual violence and intimidation.”
The lawsuit alleges that the victim has suffered mental anguish, pain, humiliation and emotional distress and that her “dream of cheering on a nationally ranked team is over.” She’s seeking an unspecified amount in damages and requesting a jury trial.
In a statement to the Observer, Aldama said she was “heartbroken by the false allegations” made against her. She further stated that the claims in the lawsuit were “wildly inaccurate” and that Navarro Cheer doesn’t cover up sexual assault or harassment reports.
“I would never remain silent, or ask any student to remain silent, if I were aware that any sexual misconduct occurred in the Cheer program,” she continued in part.
Navarro College also emailed a statement denying all wrongdoing and said it's ready to "vigorously defend itself in court." The statement added that "The safety and welfare of students is always of utmost priority. ... Navarro College takes every report of sexual harassment and sexual assault seriously and acts swiftly to provide an appropriate response to protect all students."
Attorney Judson “Jud” Waltman of The Lanier Law Firm, which represents the plaintiff, told the Observer: “Our client has no comment at this time.”
Firm founder Mark Lanier provided his own emailed statement, writing that it’s “tragic when people of authority and trust abuse their positions for personal gratification, destroying others in the process.
“We are seeking preventive justice to acknowledge what has happened and the [sic] warn others it will not go easy on anyone who follows such an abusive path,” Lanier continued.
Navarro College’s cheer program has attracted negative headlines before.
In January 2022, shortly after the second season of Cheer premiered on Netflix, a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of a minor was filed against Jason McCartney, a cheerleading coach with ties to the series. The previous summer, a pair of twins named McCartney in a separate lawsuit, citing allegations that he’d used his position of power to sexually abuse them for years, starting when they were 15.
News broke earlier this month that another cheerleader who starred in the docuseries, La’Darius Marshall, was slapped with a suspension by cheer organizations over allegations of an apparent breach of athlete protection policies. The details surrounding his suspension are scarce.
Marshall’s penalty comes less than a year after the sentencing of Jerry Harris, another former Navarro cheerleader who was once a Cheer fan favorite. Harris is expected to serve 12 years behind bars after pleading guilty to sex crimes against minors.
