Jesse Helt Criminal Record Update: Miley Cyrus Defends VMAs Date With Wanted Homeless Man
The homeless man that accompanied Miley Cyrus to the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday reportedly has a police record and an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
Jesse Helt, 22, rose to stardom at the award show for attending as Cyrus' date and accepting her award for Best Video, where he delivered an unexpected speech about the epidemic of youth homelessness.
"My name is Jesse. I am accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States who are starving, lost and scared for their lives right now. I know, because I am one of those people." he said on stage, while a teary-eyed Cyrus watched from the audience.
"The music industry will make over $7 billion this year, and outside these doors are 54,000 human beings who have no place to call home," he continued.
However, now that the once-homeless man's profile has reached a national level, police are seeking to arrest him in his native Oregon.
According to court records, Helt was arrested for "criminal mischief," criminal trespass and "attempted burglary" in 2010. At 18 years old, he admitted to breaking and entering the apartment of a drug dealer that he suspected sold him bad marijuana, reports The Guardian.
After he pleaded guilty to the first two charges, the burglary charge was dropped to "criminal trespass" later that year and Helt was handed a 30-day jail sentence and probation.
However, an arrest warrant was issued in 2011 when Helt violated the terms of his probation by failing to report to probation meetings or complete urine tests, ABC News reports.
"He doesn't make himself available to community supervision, and he takes off," the director of Polk County's community corrections department told the Oregonian newspaper.
Helt soon went on the run and moved to Los Angeles, where he lived on the streets and received help from the youth homelessness charity My Friend's Place. That's where he also met Cyrus, when the pop star stopped by on Aug. 19.
However, now he is facing arrest.
After news broke about Helt's warrant, the 21-year-old "Wrecking Ball" singer came to his defense on Tuesday afternoon, tweeting: "People who are homeless have lived very hard lives. Jesse included. I hope that this can be the start of a national conversation about youth homelessness and how to end it."
She continued to bash people for "looking down upon the homeless" and blasted the media for putting more attention on his record than the issue of homelessness.
"The media never fails to disappoint. You've chosen to go after Jesse instead of covering the issue of youth homelessness," she tweeted.
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