A lawsuit accusing coaches with cheerleading gyms in Raleigh and Kernersville, North Carolina, with sexually abusing a teen boy says the owners knew about the misconduct.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Raleigh this week, said coaches with Cheer Extreme sent the teen nude photos, forced him into sex acts and pressured him to use cocaine.

What You Need To Know

  • A federal lawsuit alleges coaches associated with a cheerleading gym in Raleigh of sexually abusing a minor

  • The lawsuit alleges the owners of Cheer Extreme Raleigh knew about possible abuse and did not stop it

  • Other private cheerleading gyms in the southeast have faced a number of similar lawsuits recently

  • The lawsuit accuses the gym and national cheer organizations of creating an atmosphere that allowed children to be abused by coaches

“Defendants Kelly and Randall Helton, as well as coaches including Defendants Chase Burris and Shawn Wilson, allowed athletes under their protection to be emotionally, physically, and sexually exploited and abused by adult coaches, choreographers, videographers and vendors,” the lawsuit states. The abuse alleged in the lawsuit happened between about 2016 and 2018.

A choreographer associated with the company tried to have sex with the boy, according to the filing. It's not clear if the coaches and choreographer are still working with cheerleading teams.

The Garner Police Department has not responded to questions on whether there have been any criminal complaints filed over the accusations, or if the department is investigating.

The owners of Raleigh Cheer Extreme, Kelly and Randall Helton, did not respond to requests for comment from Spectrum News 1. None of the defendants had lawyers listed in the federal court system as of Friday afternoon.

Varsity Spirit, another defendant that oversees cheerleading competitions and other operations, rejected accusations that it helped enable the abuse in the lawsuit.

“First and foremost, our concern is for the survivors and their families. Children should be protected and safe at all times, and no child should ever be exposed to the kind of abhorrent behavior and abuse alleged in the lawsuits,” the company said in a statement.

“We are outraged that predators took advantage of cheerleading programs to abuse innocent children. We reject any accusation that Varsity Spirit enabled such unthinkable behavior. We are committed to supporting survivors and their pursuit of justice against those individuals responsible,” Varsity Spirit said.

The lawsuit accuses Raleigh Cheer Extreme, the owners and coaches, along with national organizations like Varsity Spirit, USA Federation for Sport Cheering and U.S. All Star Federation, Inc. either knew or should have known that minors were in danger of sexual abuse.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to the other defendants for comment but they did not reply.

All Star faces other lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse in South Carolina and Tennessee.

There have been several recent accusations against coaches associated with the national cheerleading league.

A former Varsity coach in Chicago, Jerry Harris, pleaded guilty in July to child pornography charges, according to the Department of Justice. He had starred in the Netflix series "Cheer," a documentary series about competitive cheerleading.

Also in July, police in Daytona Beach, Florida, accused cheerleading coach Erick Kristianson of exposing himself to girls during a video call, according to local police.

In August, another coach associated with Varsity, Scott Foster, died by suicide in South Carolina after he was accused of sexual misconduct with minors who trained at his gym, according to the Greenville County Coroner's Office.

In the Raleigh lawsuit, the plaintiff, identified only as John Doe, said the abuse started when he was 15 or 16, his first year after joining the Raleigh Cheer Extreme team.

The boy “would hang around socially with the older coach and the other coaches, owners, and administrators from Cheer Extreme,” according to the suit. “The coach would caress Plaintiff John Doe 1, hug him and touch him in front of the other Cheer Extreme adults.”

That same coach is accused in the lawsuit of pressuring the teen to use cocaine.

Another coach from Kernersville sent nude photos to the minor on Snapchat, the lawsuit states. When the boy reported it to a coach, he did nothing except to tell the teen to let him know if it happened again, according to the filing.

While at a competition in Indianapolis, according to the lawsuit, the coach from Kernersville “insisted” the teen get in his car.

“The coach proceeded to drive around, eventually stopping and forcing Plaintiff John Doe 1 to perform oral sex,” according to the lawsuit.