Jerry Harris' fate has been handed down.
In February, the "Cheer" star pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and another of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. The former reality television presence has now been sentenced to twelve years in federal prison, followed by eight years of supervised release.
Though only convicted of two of the original seven charges brought against him--which included four counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of enticement of a child-- Harris admitted to the other counts as stipulated offenses.
The first conviction pertains to Harris' involvement with a seventeen-year-old boy, whom he promised $2,000 in exchange for "sexually explicit photographs and videos" of himself. The second involves Harris' traveling from Dallas, Texas to Orlando, Florida in 2019 "for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct" with a fifteen-year-old boy. Harris admitted to meeting the minor in a public bathroom and subsequently sexually assaulting him.
Harris was originally arrested in September of 2020 on the count of producing child pornography. Prosecutors claimed Harris "repeatedly solicited child pornography images and videos" from a pair of fourteen-year-old twin brothers. When questioned by police, Harris "admitted to soliciting and receiving child pornography on Snapchat from at least ten to fifteen other individuals he knew were minors."
Though Harris was not convicted on the charges brought by the twin brothers, the pair gave statements through their attorney after sentencing. One shared,
"Jerry, you left me feeling so dirty and disgusted about myself. Being [my brother's] only confidant throughout that entire time took a huge toll on me, it made me feel so trapped and responsible. Because I was a little kid, I had no idea what to do... You were consuming our innocence and didn't care at all about how you were hurting us but all we could think about was how to avoid hurting you or messing up your life!"
The other said, in part,
"I have lost so much freedom and so much time as a child that I mourn every single day. I had to quit cheering at my old gym because people there disagreed with me and my family because of deciding to speak out. The only true community I had at that time I felt like I had was taken away from me for doing the right thing."
