Former “Cheer” star Jerry Harris faces up to 50 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Thursday to coercing teenage boys to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves and soliciting sex from at least two minors at cheerleading competitions.
Harris, 22, of Naperville, pleaded guilty to one count each of receiving child pornography and traveling with the intention to engage in illegal sexual conduct during a video conference hearing before U.S. District Judge Manish Shah.
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His sentencing was set for June 28.
According to his plea agreement, Harris knowingly received and attempted to receive child pornography around August 2020 in Naperville. During that summer, Harris began talking to a 17-year-old boy and asked the minor to “take sexually explicit photographs and videos” of himself to send to Harris in exchange for about $2,000.
Around May 2019, Harris traveled from Texas to Florida with the intention of engaging in sexual conduct with another minor, who was 15 years old, according to the plea agreement. Before taking a flight from Dallas to Orlando on May 2, Harris, who was 19 at the time, planned to meet the 15-year-old minor in Orlando for illegal activity.
In Orlando, Harris asked the minor to meet in a public bathroom, where Harris was accused of sexually assaulting the minor. Harris acknowledged one of the reasons for his trip to Orlando was to engage in illegal sexual activity, according to court documents.
Harris’ attorney, Todd Pugh, said in a statement Thursday that Harris’ story can “only be understood through the lens of the extreme poverty, sexual abuse and neglect of his childhood.” He added that Harris’ criminal conduct also took place within a community where sexualizing and sexually abusing children was “far too common and too often overlooked,” in reference to competitive cheer.
“Jerry Harris has entered a plea of guilty today because he wishes to take responsibility for his actions and publicly convey his remorse for the harm he has caused the victims in this case,” Pugh said.
Harris has been held without bond since his arrest in September 2020 on child pornography charges. He was charged in the seven-count indictment that added four new alleged victims in the case and brought a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison.
According to Harris’ 29-page plea agreement with prosecutors, the charges he pleaded guilty to carry a mandatory minimum of five years behind bars, and preliminary sentencing guidelines call for up to 50 years. Both prosecutors and Harris’ attorneys are free to recommend any sentence within that range under the terms of the agreement.
When FBI agents raided Harris’ Naperville home, he admitted to agents during an interview that he had solicited lewd images and sex from a boy on numerous occasions, according to a criminal complaint originally filed in the case.
Born in Hinsdale and raised in Bolingbrook, Harris rose to fame on the Emmy-winning reality TV show “Cheer.” The docuseries follows the competitive cheerleading squad at Navarro College in Texas.
Harris graduated in 2017 from Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, where he was a standout student, and studied at Navarro.