Jerry Harris: Star of Netflix’s Cheer sentenced to 12 years
Image credit: MySa
One of the stars of the Netflix documentary series Cheer, Jeremiah “Jerry” Harris, was found guilty of child sex assault and received a 12-year prison term.
In February, he entered a guilty plea to counts of child pornography and crossing state lines to engage in sexual activity with a minor.
In addition, he received a term of eight years of supervised release following incarceration.
Harris acknowledged sending explicit photos of 10–15 kids in three states who he knew were minors.
The Navarro College cheerleading squad in Texas is the subject of the Emmy Award-winning television programme Cheer.
As a result of Harris’ success, TV host Ellen DeGeneres invited him to the Academy Awards, where he conducted red carpet interviews with celebrities.
An investigation was launched as a result of a Texas mother’s complaint that Harris had mistreated her twin boys.
The boys continued to discuss how the abuse occasionally occurred during cheering events in a later season of Cheer.
According to USA Today, the boys, who are now 16 years old, attended the sentencing session in Chicago. They each made statements in which they discussed the long-term effects of Harris’ misdeeds.
Harris’ attorneys stated that he wished to “accept responsibility for his acts and publicly convey his contrition for the hurt he has caused the victims” at the time of his guilty plea.
They demanded a sentence of no more than six years in prison, claiming that the trauma he suffered as a kid “warped” his perspective on interpersonal interactions.
His past trauma “is not a blank check to perpetrate sex offences against youngsters,” the prosecution argued in their plea for a 15-year prison sentence.