‘Cheer’ Star Jerry Harris Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

Cheer star Jerry Harris has been arrested on a production of child pornography charge, CNN reports. The news comes just days after the FBI reportedly began investigating Harris for allegedly soliciting sex and sexually explicit photos from minors. Harris is set to appear in federal court in Chicago today, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Fitzpatrick.

A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago accuses Harris of “enticing an underage boy to produce sexually explicit videos and photos of himself.” The minor was 13 years old at the time, and Harris has been interviewed by law enforcement this week about the allegations. If charged, Harris faces between 15 and 30 years in prison for production of child pornography, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Earlier this week, two of Harris’ alleged victims filed a lawsuit accusing the Netflix star of child sexual exploitation and abuse, alleging that he “exploited his popularity and position of fame with young male cheer athletes” in the time “leading up to, during, and following the distribution of the Cheer docuseries.” According to the lawsuit, Harris’ two victims, both now 14, were 13 years old when the abuse began. Harris is currently 21 years old.

According to the lawsuit, Harris allegedly exchanged social media messages with them that were “sexual in nature,” asked for “explicit” photographs, and sent “sexually explicit photos and videos” of himself to the minors. The lawsuit also added that “Harris often attempted to make Plaintiffs meet Harris in secluded locations at various competitions, soliciting sexual conduct with these boys.”

The alleged victims’ lawsuit also names The United States All Star Federation (USASF), Varsity Spirit and Cheer Athletics, claiming that Harris was “a coach, trainer, mentor, representative, and agent” at the three companies, which all “failed to implement reasonable safeguards” to protect the minors.

In response to the lawsuit, USASF told CNN, “USASF is committed to continued improvement in our athlete safety programs and addressing concerns brought to our attention.”

Varsity’s chief legal officer, Burton Brillhart, earlier reported Harris’ “inappropriate sexual conduct” in Aug. 1 letters to police in Florida and Texas, sharing screenshots of alleged messages sent by Harris. One screenshot of a Snapchat exchange allegedly shows a photo of Harris’ face captioned, “Would you ever want to ****.” Another screenshot shows a text message conversation dated May 3, 2019, in which a contact named “jerry harris” says, “Hey btw I found a place for us to do stuff it’s actually pretty good haha.”

In his letter, Brillhart called Harris as a former employee who was not currently working with Varsity during the alleged incidents. Harris shared that he was working for the National Cheerleading Association — a Varsity brand — in May 2019, posting images of himself coaching cheer athletes at the NCA camps on social media. “As a result of the recent allegation, we have barred this person from having any affiliation with Varsity Brands or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, now and in the future,” Brillhart wrote at the time.

According to Harris’ spokesperson, he denies all of the allegations of child sexual exploitation and abuse. “We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager,” they said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight. “We are confident that when the investigation is completed the true facts will be revealed.”