Warning: this article discusses child sexual abuse.
Star of Netflix’s docuseries Cheer Jerry Harris has now been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after being found guilty of charges related to child sexual abuse.
In total there were seven charges leveraged against Harris. These included receiving child pornography and pressuring young boys into sexual acts. According to prosecutors, victims related to the charges came from the states of Texas, Florida, and Illinois. These charges came from three years between 2017 and 2020.
As confirmed to NBC News by assistant U.S. attorney for Northern Illinois Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, Harris has been sentenced to 12 years in prison with a further eight years of court supervision upon his release. Per court records, cited by USA Today, Harris faced two charges for an incident where he allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old boy in a bathroom during a cheer competition.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Keely Guzman explained the verdict in her sentencing memorandum saying that the Cheer star had used his celebrity and wealth to exploit children.
“Harris used his celebrity and wealth to continue his exploitation of children, expanding the tools available to him to manipulate them into gratifying his seemingly insatiable sexual desires.”
Before sentencing, Harris’ attorneys argued to get the sentence reduced to just six years citing that Harris himself had been a victim of abuse as a minor. They claimed that he had been assaulted in his cheer gym by a 19-year-old when he was just 13 warping his view on relationships.
Ultimately, prosecutors acknowledged this but said it was “not a blank check to commit sex offenses against minors.”
Harris rose to stardom in early 2020 with the release of the docuseries Cheer. He was arrested later that year in September.