July 7, 2022

USA: Gay Icon Star Of ‘Cheer’ On Netflix, Sentenced To 12 Years In Federal Prison Reduced From 50 Years For Sex Crimes Against Many Underage Boys Using His Fame To Abuse Them

Good Morning America published September 18, 2020: ‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris arrested on child pornography charges. The 21-year-old woke up behind bars Friday as he faces allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.
USA TODAY published July 6, 2022: 'Cheer' star Jerry Harris sentenced to 12 years for sex crimes, survivors share story. The FBI arrested Jerry Harris after investigating reports made to police by two 14-year-old boys who claim Netflix "Cheer" star solicited explicit photos and sex.
I believe he was repeating a pattern of sexual abuse. He was most likely molested as a child and instead of being the victim of child abuse, he became the predator with power. (emphasis mine)
The Post Millennial
written by Katie Daviscourt
Wednesday July 6, 2022

Netflix "Cheer" star Jeremiah Harris has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to child pornography and sex charges in February.

Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Joseph D. Fitzpatrick told CNN that Harris will be serving a 12-year federal prison sentence, followed by 8 years of court-supervised release.

Jeremiah "Jerry" Harris rose to fame after starring in the Netflix reality docuseries "Cheer," and shocked the nation when he was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography in Sept. 2020, days after he was under FBI investigation for soliciting sex from minors.

Following a plea agreement with the United States government, Harris pleaded guilty in February to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of engaging in sexual acts with a minor, after being charged with a seven-count indictment in the US District Court in northern Illinois in December 2020.

Harris pleaded guilty to two of the charges from that indictment, stating that he received child pornography and engaged in interstate travel to meet a 15-year-old boy with whom he engaged in sexual relations, according to court documents.

However, the star of the docuseries allegedly admitted to receiving sexually explicit images from "at least between 10 to 15 other individuals he knew were minors," the US Attorney's Office in Chicago said in a criminal complaint.

Harris was slapped with a $1 million lawsuit from twin brothers who claimed that he "groomed" them for sexual activities, Page Six reported.

The suit was filed in Texas court, accusing Harris of exploiting his "popularity and position of fame with young male cheer athletes" and demanding nude photos from the boys while molesting them.

The siblings, aged around 13 and 14 when Harris was 19-years-old at the time of the year-long abuse, are competitive cheerleaders from Texas and reportedly complied with their "mentor" on the cheer scene, court documents state.

In February 2019, Harris allegedly demanded oral sex from one of the children in a bathroom at the American Cheerleaders Association's national competition, but the victim refused. The criminal charge pertains to this brother's sexual abuse.

The behavior was uncovered by the boys' mother who found the X-rated messages on her sons' cell phones and social media, including photographic and video evidence of the exchanges.

Harris faced up to 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty earlier this year.

"Jerry Harris' guilt has been firmly established," the Manly, Stewart & Finaldi law firm told The New York Post on Wednesday on behalf of the victims, twin boys named Charlie and Sam, and their family.

"The sentence he received reflects the severity of his crimes and the lifetime of pain his victims will suffer. This was made possible because our clients' mother, Kristen, initially had the courage to report Harris to the FBI and provided evidentiary proof of the manipulation, sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation that her sons had suffered," the attorney said in a statement.

"The US Attorney's office deserves credit for their diligent and effective prosecution," he continued.

In 2020, Harris filmed a video on his Instagram account with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, encouraging young black voters to turn out Election Day.

"Together we have the power to make a real change!" Harris told his 1.2 million followers. Harris and Biden engaged in Instagram lives as well, conservative commentator Saagar Enjeti reported.

Harris was arrested shortly after being featured.
変人日本人 published September 17, 2020: Jerry Harris Chats With Joe Biden Before FBI Investigation [VIDEO].
  
Breitbart.com
written by Alana Mastrangelo
Wednesday July 6, 2022

Netflix’s Cheer star and former Joe Biden presidential campaign surrogate Jerry Harris was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in his child pornography case.

Harris will also be required to register as a sex offender for life, and pay a $55,000 fine, according to a report by WIVB 4, which added that the former Netflix star is facing eight years of supervised release after his prison term.

Harris held an Instagram chat with Joe Biden mere weeks before he became the center of an FBI investigation into sex solicitation.

In 2020, Harris was arrested on production of child pornography charges after he was accused of soliciting sex from minors, and pressuring 14-year-old boys to send him phonographic photos and videos.

An affidavit further stated that one of underage teens reported having “one in-person encounter” with Harris, and that the Netflix star “solicited oral sex” the minor, “in a bathroom at a cheerleading event.”

In February, the former Cheer star pled guilty in a deal to one count of receipt of child pornography and another of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

At the time, prosecutors said that if the case had gone to trial, their evidence would show that in the summer of 2020, Harris communicated with a minor — whom he knew was under the age of 18 — via Snapchat, where he repeatedly asked for photos of a sexual nature.

As for the second charge, Harris had traveled from Dallas, Texas, to Orlando, Florida, in May 2019 intending to engage in sexual conduct with a 15-year-old, whom he asked to meet in a public bathroom.

Earlier this year, Harris’ defense team told Nexstar’s WGN that the criminal conduct “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,” the defense team added.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 2:15 PM

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