On Wednesday, Jeremiah “Jerry” Harris, 22, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to soliciting sex from minor boys and receiving child pornography.
According to the Federal News Network, the former breakout star of the hit Netflix docuseries Cheer was also given eight years of court-supervised probation by U.S. District Magistrate Manish Shah.
During his sentencing, Shah told Harris that the gravity of his punishment was an “expression of the seriousness of your crimes, tempered with some hope that all is not lost for you or for your victims, and that in the future some healing can occur.”
Federal Prosecutor Kelly Guzman had asked the judge to give the former cheerleader a harsher sentence of 15 years for his crimes– though she did acknowledge his trauma, saying it wasn’t “a blank check to commit sex offenses against minors.”
“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.”
His lawyers asked Shah for leniency, given Harris was also a victim of sexual abuse at age 13. His Cheer co-stars, including his former coach Monica Navarro, advocated for him–sending videos and character reference letters.
The vicenarian apologized to his victims inside the Illinois court, saying, “I regret my decisions, and I am deeply sorry. All I can do going forward is to try to do better and be a better person. I do not deserve forgiveness, but I do pray that one day you might find it in your hearts.”
Sis2Sis reported that in February, Harris pleaded guilty to two counts – receiving child pornography and using interstate travel to engage in sexual activity with a minor.
The 22-year-old Netflix star victimized twin brothers Sam and Charlie. Their last names were withheld because they are minors. He solicited oral sex from one of the brothers at a cheer competition. Harris started the inappropriate contact when he was 19 years old.
He was arrested in September 2020 and had been in a federal prison in Illinois since December of the same year.
