According to ABC 7 Chicago, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said the crime Harris allegedly committed is punishable by a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. He could receive a maximum of 30 years in prison.
A Texas lawsuit against 21-year-old Harris was previously filed on Monday by two teenagers, alleging “Harris asked the boys to send sexually explicit pictures of themselves and that he asked one of them for a sexual act at a Fort Worth competition,” ABC affiliate WFAA reported. The two victims were 13 years old when the inappropriate behavior began.
The FBI also raided his house in Naperville, Illinois the same day the suit was filed, Chicago Tribune revealed.
The lawsuit claims that after a February 2019 cheer competition at the Fort Worth Convention Center, Harris told one of the victims to follow him to a secluded bathroom. There, Harris allegedly asked the boy to perform oral sex.
Harris was at the event serving as a coach, trainer, mentor, representative and agent. The victims gave Harris their phone numbers and several social media accounts. From there, the lawsuit states that he began “grooming” the boys.
“Almost immediately, Harris’ messages turned sexual in nature, including demands that his victims send ‘booty pics,’ which meant that Harris was demanding that minors transmit photographs of their nude buttocks to Harris,” the lawsuit said.
“Among the messages, Harris would continue to demand that victims ‘send nudes,’ expressly demand that these young boys send Harris child pornography, including pictures of their naked bodies,” the suit continued.
A spokesperson for Harris said that the lawsuit was baseless. “We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager,” the statement read via Variety on Monday. “We are confident that when the investigation is completed the true facts will be revealed.”
The Netflix documentary series Cheer debuted in January 2020, and chronicled the lives of the Navarro College cheerleaders as they trained for one of the biggest competitions of their lives.
“Like everyone we are shocked by this news. Any abuse of minors is a terrible crime and we respect the legal process,” a Netflix spokesperson told Newsweek via email regarding Harris’ arrest.
Updated 9/17/2020 2:22 p.m., ET: This story has been updated with further details regarding Jerry Harris’ arrest and confirmation from the Northern District of Illinois.
Updated 9/18/2020 8:52 a.m., ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Netflix regarding Jerry Harris’ arrest.
