'Cheer' Star Jerry Harris Sentencing Could See Netflix Personality Behind Bars for Decade
Cheer star Jerry Harris faces more than a decade behind bars after he pleaded guilty in a child sexual abuse case earlier this year. As the case reaches the sentencing point, prosecutors on Wednesday asked a federal judge to sentence Harris to 15 years in prison. Harris in December 2020 was indicted on numerous charges alleging he received and attempted to receive child pornography and persuaded minors to engage in sexual contact.
In a sentencing memo filed on Wednesday, Assistant US Attorney Kelly Guzman wrote that Harris "used what he had at his disposal – his status as a competitive cheerleader, his social media persona, and eventually his celebrity and money, to persuade and entice his young victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct for him or with him." In the 27-page filing, per CBS News and the Chicago Tribune, Guzman went on to recommend a 15-year prison sentence. She also requested the sentence include 10 years of supervised release after the prison term.
The prosecutor's recommended sentence is far lower than the maximum 50-year sentence Harris faces after pleading guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. However, in the sentencing memo, Guzman, who called Harris' actions horrific, noted his difficult childhood as a reason for the more lenient sentencing.
"Harris's childhood included periods of poverty and homelessness; he was young at the time he committed these horrific offenses; and due to his childhood full of setbacks and developmental delays, he was far less mature than his age at the time of the offenses," Guzman wrote. Harris' defense attorneys also cited his childhood when asking that a six-year sentence be followed by eight years of supervised release, describing Harris as "both victimizer and victim," and noted that "the trauma he experienced as a child normalized his skewed version of what he understood to be appropriate relationships. No one was there to stand up for him when he was sexually assaulted as a minor. He is grateful that is not the case for his victims in this case, to whom he is profoundly remorseful."
Harris, who was arrested in September 2020, remains in custody at a federal detention facility without bond. After initially pleading not guilty to seven charges in December 2020, the Cheer alum took a plea agreement in February of this year, pleading guilty to one count each of receiving child pornography and engaging in sexual acts with a minor, both of which carry a mandatory minimum of five years behind bars. Harris' sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 28.