Jerry Harris gets sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty in court.
Jerry Harris, a former participant in the Netflix documentary series ‘Cheer’, was given a 12-year jail term for forcing teenage males to email him pornographic images and videos of themselves. He was also charged with soliciting sex from children during cheerleading events.
It all started in 2020 when he was taken to court in a $1 Million suit for sexual misconduct with minors. The 22-year-old Harris was charged with seven counts of procuring child pornography and forcing minors into having sex between August 2017 and August 2020.
According to prosecutors, the acts affected people in Texas, Florida, and Illinois. U.S. District Judge Heather McShain said “The defendant was not a child, he was an adult. He was 19, 20, 21 years old. His victims were as young as 13 years old. He held status in the cheerleading community and he used that to manipulate and exploit these minor and vulnerable young boys.”
“I am deeply sorry for all the trauma my abuse has caused you. I pray deep down that your suffering comes to an end,” Jerry Harris apologized to the victims of his sex crimes. “I’m not an evil person,” Harris expressed. “I’m still learning who I am and what my purpose is.”
Originally, he pleaded not guilty in the child pornography case, but decided to change his plea in February because he wanted “to take responsibility for his actions and publicly convey his remorse for the harm he has caused …”
“The sentence is 12 years in prison, to be followed by 8 years of court-supervised release,” U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Fitzpatrick said to CNN.
Let us know what you think of the case? Should Jerry Harris be sentenced to more than 12 years in prison?
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