At the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, singer Miley Cyrus introduced the world to Jessie Helt, a homeless youth who became the talk of social media after accepting the singer's Moonman for Video of the Year.
However, according to Polk County Corrections Director Martin Silbernagel, the 22-year-old male has a criminal record and is wanted by police in Oregon on a probation violation from previous charges, including criminal trespassing and criminal mischief.
"He's had a warrant out for him since November 2011 for criminal trespass," Silbernagel said in a statement, according to Us Weekly. "The warrant is still valid and we will be attempting to serve that as the report is that Mr. Helt has returned to his mother's home in our county in Oregon."
According to Associated Press, the young man was arrested in 2010 for attempting to break into an apartment in Salem, Oregon. He pleaded guilty to criminal trespass and was put on probation.
Helt reportedly violated his probation on several occasions, including "failure to take a drug test, marijuana use, failure to report to his probation officer, breach of curfew and incomplete community service hours."
His mother, Linda Helt, told reporters that Cyrus paid for her son to fly back home and visit his family in Salem. Detective John Williams said Held could not be found at his mother's home and added that the police are searching for him.
"He doesn't make himself available to community supervision, and he takes off," Silbernagel said.
According to ABC News, Helt has also been arrested for "marijuana possession and being a minor in possession of tobacco products and liquor." He moved to Los Angeles to become a model, but has been living on the streets while trying to find work.
After news of his criminal past were made public, Cyrus took to Twitter to post a series of tweets reminding fans of the importance in helping the homeless, 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."
Cyrus added: "Does looking down upon the homeless help people excuse their inaction? The media never fails to disappoint. You've chosen to go after Jesse instead of covering the issue of youth homelessness :(."
She posted a link to her campaign to raise awareness for homeless youth, along with the caption, "While they [obsess] over one homeless mans legal issue lets help the other 1.6 million homeless youth."
While they obsesses over one homeless mans legal issue lets help the other 1.6 million homeless youth https://t.co/VE6P9yfAVX
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) August 26, 2014
Helt and Cyrus met through the Hollywood homeless center My Friend's Place, a charity benefitting homeless youth. During Sunday's award show, the former Disney star watched from the audience with tears in her eyes, as Helt accepted her award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States."
