Cheer’s Jerry Harris Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison Over Indecent Images Of Children
7 July 2022, 11:40 | Updated: 7 July 2022, 11:59
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Jerry Harris has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for crimes relating to indecent images of children.
Netflix star Jerry Harris, who appeared in season one and half of season two of Cheer, has been sentenced to 12 years behind bars.
Jerry, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of travelling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and one count of receiving indecent images.
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Harris was arrested in September 2020 and has been held in custody at a federal detention facility since then.
Addressing his victims at a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday 6 July before receiving his sentence, Harris said: “I am deeply sorry for all the trauma my abuse has caused you. I pray deep down that your suffering comes to an end.
“I’m not an evil person. I’m still learning who I am and what my purpose is.”
In February he pleaded guilty to two of seven counts held against him, including persuading a 17-year-old to send him sexually explicit photos for money and travelling to Florida for the purpose of ‘engaging in sexual conduct’ with a 15-year-old.
The remaining five were dropped under a plea agreement.
Harris was charged with soliciting videos and images from two 14-year-old brothers at the time of his arrest
Jerry became a breakout star on Netflix’s reality series Cheer. The allegations were addressed in the second season, with head coach Monica Aldama saying he wrote her a letter after he was arrested but she ‘hadn’t written him back’.
"He wrote me a letter and it was hard to read," she said during the episode titled ‘Jerry’, "which is why I haven't written him back...'cause I don't know what I would say.
"I want to be supportive yet I'm so disappointed.”
He told her in the note he hopes one day to become a motivational speaker.
