The former star of the Netflix documentary series Cheer, pleaded guilty on federal charges of receiving child sexual abuse images and soliciting sex from minors.
In federal court in Chicago, USA, Jerry Harris pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and one count of receiving child abuse images.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to two of seven counts against him including persuading a 17-year-old to send him sexually explicit photographs for financial reward. The other charge stems from a trip he took to Florida for the purpose of ‘engaging in illicit sexual conduct’ with a 15-year-old. The prosecutors ultimately came to the decision to drop the remaining five counts under a plea agreement
In the US, child pornography charge carries a sentence ranging from five to 20 years and the second charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. Jerry Harris was initially arrested in September 2020 on a charge of production of child abuse imagery. At the time prosecutors alleged that he solicited videos and images from 14-year-old brothers.
Jerry admitted to FBI agents to repeatedly asking a teenage boy for compromising videos and images between December 2018 and March 2020. In that same year, he was further indited for alleging misconduct in Illinois, Florida and Texas. The indictment claimed he allegedly solicited sex from minors at cheerleading competitions and convinced teenage boys to send him images over Snapchat. According to his inditement he requested images from at least 10 to 15 others he knew were minors.
Jerry Harris shot to fame on the hugely successful docuseries ‘Cheer’. The show follows comprettitive cheerleading squad at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. Jerry became an over-night sensation because of his positive attitude and his encouraging 'mat talk.' Off the back of the show he was offered huge opportunities, from appearing on The Ellen Show, to interviewing celebrities on the red carpet at the Academy Awards.
The second series of the docuseries explored the investigation into Jerry, dedicating an hour-long episode titled ‘Jerry.’ It features the two 14-year-old boys who made the sexual assault allegations and the response from his fellow Navarro cheerleaders.
Navarro head coach Monica Aldama said her heart was 'shattered into a million pieces' learning of the news. At the time she penned on social media, ‘I am devastated by this shocking, unexpected news,' she wrote on social media.
'Our children must be protected from abuse and exploitation, and I’m praying hard for the victims, and everyone affected.' She also requested for people to respect her privacy as 'our family mourns during this heart-breaking time'.
Jerry is still in custody at a federal detention facility and is scheduled to be sentenced on 28th of June.
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