Former 'Cheer' star pleads guilty in child pornography case
CTV
Jerry Harris, former star of the Netflix documentary series “Cheer,” pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of receiving child pornography and soliciting sex from minors that could keep him in prison for decades.
During a change of plea hearing in federal court in Chicago, Harris pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and one count of receiving child pornography, a U.S. attorney's office spokesman said.
Harris, 22, pleaded guilty to two of seven felony counts against him, one for persuading a 17-year-old to send him sexually explicit photographs for money and the other stemming from a trip he took to Florida for the purpose of “engaging in illicit sexual conduct” with a 15-year-old. Prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining five counts under a plea agreement.
The child pornography charge carries a sentence ranging from five to 20 years and the second charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. Harris is scheduled to be sentenced June 28. He remains in custody at a federal detention facility.
Harris, who is from the Chicago suburb of Naperville, was arrested in September 2020 on a charge of production of child pornography. Prosecutors alleged at the time that he solicited videos and images from two 14-year-old brothers.
