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‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris gets 12 years in prison after child porn conviction

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‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris gets 12 years in prison after child porn conviction

Screenshot from Netflix

Harris pleads guilty to crimes relating to child pornography images and soliciting sex from minors

MANILA, Philippines – Jerry Harris, who starred in the American reality TV show Cheer, will be facing 12 years in federal prison after being sentenced on Wednesday, July 6 for crimes involving child sexual abuse images and soliciting sex from minors.

The 22-year-old originally faced a 15-year sentence for 12 counts, but pleaded guilty to two charges in February. Harris admitted to five more charges, and prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining five counts under a plea agreement.

According to Joseph Fitzpatrick, assistant US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, as reported by NBC News, Harris was also sentenced to an eight-year court-supervised release following 12 years of prison time. Since his arrest in September 2020, Harris has remained in custody at a federal detention facility.

Harris admitted to requesting child pornography from 10 to 15 children and to engaging in sexual acts with a 15-year-old, who traveled from Texas to Florida. He is now indicted on seven counts of receiving child pornography, pressuring young boys to send sexually-explicit photos and videos in exchange for money, and persuading minors to engage in sexual conduct from August 2017 to August 2020.

“Since his incarceration, Jerry has actively sought out and is participating in mental health treatment and therapy both for his conduct and the diagnosed trauma disorders [from] which he suffers. With his plea of guilty, Jerry will spend the rest of his life making amends for what he has done,” Harris’ attorneys wrote in a statement, according to Rolling Stone.

Harris was known for his appearance on the Netflix docuseries Cheer. It follows the lives of the cheerleading squad at Navarro College in Texas. – with reports from Elle Guison/Rappler.com

Elle Guison is a Rappler intern.

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