D'Haiti and his wife, Kelly D'Haiti, operated World Cheer Center in Clermont, Florida until his March 2022 arrest.
On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, former cheerleading coach and high school teacher Vigiland D'Haiti was sentenced to 29 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one charge of solicitation of child sexually abusive material (CSAM) in July.
As part of his plea deal, D'Haiti will be subject to 15 years of supervised release after he completes his sentence, and will have to register as a sex offender. Under federal sentencing guidelines, D'Haiti will likely serve 85% of his sentence, or approximately 25 years. D'Haiti, who is currently 41 years old, would be about 66 years old at that time.
According to federal prosecutors, two minors were identified as victims of D'Haiti's scheme to solicit CSAM from girls he knew through his cheerleading gym, World Cheer Center. He faced multiple federal charges.
In July 2022, the Assistant US Attorney assigned to D'Haiti's federal case told the court that as many as 20 girls had come forward to law enforcement to report that D'Haiti had sexually abused them while he was their cheerleading coach.
State charges for lewd and lascivious molestation of three girls remain pending in Lake County Circuit Court.
D'Haiti was first arrested in March 2022 after the three girls told Clermont Police that they had been subjected to inappropriate touching by D'Haiti, as well as manipulative and abusive Snapchat messages. His phone was seized incident to that arrest, and, after Clermont Police obtained a warrant to search the phone, police were able to identify multiple photos and videos that constituted a violation of federal child pornography statutes.
According to police investigators, D'Haiti had been investigated for multiple sexual abuse allegations between 2017 and 2021, by both police and DCFS. He was ultimately arrested after a 15 year old girl told police in January 2022 that she was sexually abused by D'Haiti in late 2021.
D'Haiti was a well-known figure in the elite Varsity Spirit/United States All Star Federation All Star Cheerleading world, serving as both a coach and a judge for cheer competitions. He and his wife, Kelly D'Haiti, operated World Cheer Center in Clermont, Florida, until his arrest, along with a colleague based in England, Adele Leather. Kelly D'Haiti and Adele Leather have not been charged criminally at this time. Vigiland D'Haiti was suspended by USASF officials after his arrest. His wife is believed to be judging USASF cheer competitions still.
If you or a loved one was sexually abused, raped or sexually molested by a youth coach, team leader, team administrator or sports team member, contact our law firm at 954-641-2100 or send an email to sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz.