Jerry Harris, the breakout student from Netflix’s Emmy-nominated cheerleading series, Cheer, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of producing child pornography.
He is accused of “enticing a 13-year-old he met on social media to send him photos and videos, even meeting up with the boy at a cheerleading event for oral sex,” according to the Daily Beast. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
Harris’ arrest comes after a USA Today report that Harris was under investigation by the FBI for soliciting sexually explicit photos and sex from minors, including twin teenage brothers who were 13 years old at the time; Harris was 19. The Daily Beast acquired the criminal complaint, which alleges that “one of the boys sent Harris ‘over a dozen photographs and videos’ between December 2018 and March 2020, including shots showing his ‘penis and anus.’ In turn, Harris allegedly sent the boy photos of his penis, as well as a video of him masturbating.” Harris initially denied the allegations before reportedly admitting that he had exchanged the sexually explicit photos with the minor:
The teenager told authorities he met up with 21-year-old Harris at a cheerleading event both were attending, where Harris “solicited oral sex” from the boy in a bathroom. The teenager also “reported a second attempt by Harris to meet… for an in-person sexual encounter when Minor-1 was at a cheer competition that Harris also attended.”
Harris is expected to make a federal courtroom appearance in Chicago on Thursday.
(Via The Daily Beast & USA Today)