Jerry Harris is headed to federal prison.
The former reality star — who was a main cast member on the Netflix series Cheer — was sentenced on July 6 to 12 years behind bars, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
His prison sentence will be followed by eight years of court-supervised release.
Harris was arrested on child pornography charges in September 2020 after he repeatedly solicited child pornography images and videos from twin 13-year-old brothers.
One of the young teenagers alleged that Harris had “solicited oral sex” from him in a “bathroom at a cheerleading event” they both attended.
One of these victims also said he was initially contacted by Harris on Instagram in 2018.
Via screenshots of their alleged DM conversation, Harris asked the boy how old he was and the boy responded, “13 lmao,” to which court document say Harris replied:
“Oh ok have any pics?”
From there, the boy asked, “What type of pics,” and Harris supposedly responded: “Face picd [sic]” “and booty.”
The year after the aforementioned oral sex incident, this victim’s mother found the messages on her child’s phone and reported Harris to the police.
In his eventual plea agreement, Harris admitted to instructing a minor to meet him in a public bathroom… where Harris sexually assaulted him.
He also admitted to “soliciting and receiving child pornography on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 other individuals he knew were minors,” the complaint continued, and to having sex with a 15-year-old at a cheer event.
He ended up pleading guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor less than two months later.
Harris also confessed to four counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of enticement of a child as stipulated offenses, but they’re expected to be dropped after this sentencing.
The ex-Netflix personality has been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago since September 2020.
“Jerry is a 22-year-old young man whose story can only be understood through the lens of the extreme poverty, sexual abuse, and neglect of his childhood,” said his lawyers early this year.
“The criminal conduct in this case also took place in the context of a competitive Cheer Community where inappropriately sexualizing and sexually abusing children was far too common and too often overlooked.
“Jerry was himself exploited, manipulated, and sexually abused as a child within the Cheer Community in a way that perversely made him believe that this sexual conduct was somehow normal when it was not…
“As we now know, Jerry became an offender himself as an older teenager.”
In court at a July 6 hearing, the aforementioned 15-year-old twin brothers gave statements, which their attorney provided to E! News after the sentencing.
“Jerry, you left me feeling so dirty and disgusted about myself,” one said in part.
“Being [my brother’s] only confidant throughout that entire time took a huge toll on me, it made me feel so trapped and responsible.
“Because I was a little kid, I had no idea what to do…
“You were consuming our innocence and didn’t care at all about how you were hurting us but all we could think about was how to avoid hurting you or messing up your life!”
Source: HollyWood Gossip
