'Cheer' Star Jerry Harris Receives a 12 Year Prison Sentence
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In September 2020, nine months after Netflix’s documentary series Cheer came out and catapulted Navarro cheerleader Jerry Harris to fame, he was sued by twin 14-year-old boys for sexual abuse and subsequently arrested by the FBI on child pornography charges. A fan-favorite, notable for his infectiously positive “mat talk” during practice, his arrest shocked his peers, his coaches, and fans of the hit docuseries all over the world. Their reactions are now documented in the fifth episode of Cheer’s second season entitled “Jerry,” in which his accusers are also interviewed, detailing the abuse; their mother, their lawyer, the USA Today reporters who broke the story also speak.
Here’s an overview of the criminal charges against Harris, as well as the current status of his case.
The lawsuit filed in Texas against Jerry Harris in September 2020 by a set of twin 14-year-old cheerleaders named Charlie and Sam accuses Harris of sending them sexually explicit messages, demanding nude photos, and cornering one of them to solicit oral sex in a bathroom at a cheerleading competition in 2019. In Episode 5 of the new season of Cheer, the young men detail their experiences, which began when they were 13 years old and Harris was 19. After his arrest, Harris allegedly admitted to the FBI that he had exchanged explicit photos over Snapchat with between 10 and 15 boys who he knew were minors, paid a 17-year-old to send him nude photos, and had sex with a 15-year-old at a cheerleading competition in 2019.
In December 2020, after further investigation, the FBI filed additional charges against Harris, including sexual exploitation of children, receiving child pornography, traveling with the attempt to engage in sexual conduct with a minor, and enticement. On December 17, 2020, he pleaded not guilty on all seven counts. But on February 10, 2022, Harris changed his plea, pleading guilty to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of engaging in sexual acts with a minor. The judge said that Harris could face a maximum of 30 years in prison on just one of the charges.
Season Two of Cheer picks up with the Navarro College cheerleaders in January 2020 and follows the team for several weeks until Daytona is called off in March, due to Covid-19. The latest batch of episodes open with the news of Harris's September arrest, casting a shadow over his presence among the team in the months prior.
Since his September 2020 arrest, Jerry Harris had been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. In October 2020, a judge denied him bond, suggesting Harris was a danger to the community. On July 6, 2022, the 22-year-old cheerleader was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his crimes, and another eight years of supervised release afterwards.
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