Jerry Harris, who won fans and acclaim for his energetic and inspirational speeches on the Netflix reality show Cheer, was arrested on Thursday in Chicago on a federal charge of producing child pornography.
According to federal prosecutors, Harris, now 21, had allegedly contacted a 13-year-old boy via social media and had “repeatedly enticed him to produce sexually explicit videos and photographs of himself and send them to Harris.” If convicted, the production of child pornography carries with it a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years behind bars.
Harris’s arrest came days after he was sued by twin brothers in Texas, who claimed the cheerleading star had sexually abused them and sought nude photos from the boys when they were 13. The alleged incidents happened after Harris met the boys in 2018, when he was 19. In a statement delivered to People about that lawsuit, a representative for Harris said, “We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager. We are confident that when the investigation is completed the true facts will be revealed.”
A member of the Navarro College cheerleading squad featured on the Netflix series Cheer, Harris enjoyed a meteoric rise earlier this year after the success of the reality show. He appeared as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and served as a red-carpet correspondent for Ellen DeGeneres at this year’s Academy Awards. In recent months, Harris participated in headline-making interviews with Bring It On star Gabrielle Union and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Netflix has not commented on Harris’s arrest. Cheer received six Emmy Award nominations this year and won two awards at the Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies this week.
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