(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Last week, we brought you the news that the Coastal Carolina University cheerleading team was suspended indefinitely as school officials investigated a multitude of allegations.
According to a cheerleader who spoke to WMBF News, an investigator with the CCU Department of Public Safety came to the team’s practice Wednesday night and informed them that an anonymous letter was mailed to school president David DeCenzo on March 7. The letter alleged that certain cheerleaders were involved in a “long list of things” that were against the law, including prostitution, purchasing alcohol for underage team members, and paying others to do their homework for them.
A week later, the investigation has begun to shed some more light on the situation. According to The Charlotte Observer, the criminal investigation alleges that some members of the CCU cheer team worked as strippers and escorts, with some cheerleaders involved in the escort services being paid between $100 and $1,500 per date.
Via Charlotte Observer:
Cheerleaders also would receive goods such as Michael Kors purses, as well as shoes and clothes, according to the investigation. One cheerleader was offered $800 to escort a male to New York Prime, according to the report. The cheerleaders would not engage in sexual favors, the report stated, but the investigation found “evidence of an escort service.”
The cheerleaders ran the operation through the website seekingarrangement.com, according to the report. Text messages between cheerleaders advised team members working at the strip clubs, including Thee DollHouse, to quit their jobs until after a national cheerleading competition taking place in Dayton Beach, Fla., according to the report.
Amy Lawrence, an attorney who represents five of the 11 accused cheerleaders, called the suspension “unprecedented.”
“I am shocked and saddened to see these girls become victims of these baseless claims from an anonymous source,” Lawrence said in a news release. “Even more disheartening is that these girls were not permitted due process in their own defense to show just how outlandish and ridiculous these allegations truly are.”
