Realiy TV sensation Jerry Harris registered a guilty plea to two charges of child pornography and the sexual assault of a minor, on Thursday.
Cheer reality TV star pleads guilty to child rape
The 22-year-old stole the hearts of Americans when he appeared in the Netflix competition that tracks a cheerleader squad from Navarro College (a Texas tertiary) on its pursuit of winning the national title.
Harris’ upbeat attitude, coming from humble beginnings, melted hearts and by the looks of It, his exposure was his one-way ticket to fame.
The breakout reality TV star even worked as a guest interviewer next to Ellen DeGeneres at the 2020 Academy Awards.
Turns out, however, Harris harboured dark and twisted lust for minors.
In September 2020, the 22-year-old was charged with two counts of production of child pornography after It was found that during these cheerleading competitions, Harris had sexual intercourse with underaged victims in exchange for cash.
Two months later, more charges were brought against the star. Federal investigators determined that he 22-year-old had been collecting child porn since 2018, and, at least on two occasions, had penetrated a 15-year-old minor.
At first, the disgraced reality TV star pleaded not guilty to all charges. However, on Thursday, his legal representative informed the court of his decision to enter into a plea agreement with the State.
Under this plea deal, Harris admitted to repeatedly soliciting explicit photos and videos from one of his victims, as well as sexually assaulting another.
The rest of the charges, it’s believed, will likely be dropped in light of the guilty plea.
Harris’ sentencing has yet to be scheduled but legal experts believe the 22-year-old faces up to 50 years imprisonment.
This is the statement released by his attorney following the guilty plea annoncement:
JUST IN: Comment from lawyers for Jerry Harris, former star of the Netflix docuseries "Cheer," on his guilty plea today. pic.twitter.com/fVkHgvQGBU
— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) February 10, 2022