By Minyvonne Burke and Diana Dasrath -
NBC News
Jerry Harris, one of the protagonists of the Netflix documentary series
Cheer
, was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison on federal charges related to images of sexual abuse of minors.
Harris, 22, was charged with seven counts of receiving and attempting to obtain child pornography and persuading minors to have sexual contact between August 2017 and August 2020. Prosecutors said
the acts involved victims in Texas .
, Florida and Illinois.
The entertainer was sentenced to 12 years in prison, to be followed by 8 years of court-supervised release, Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, assistant US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, confirmed to NBC News.
Jerry Harris, star of the documentary series 'Cheer,' in a January 29, 2022 file photo. Jim Spellman/Getty Images
Prosecutors had sought a 15-year sentence for Harris, writing in a memo that he used "his status as a competition entertainer, his prominence on social media, and ultimately his celebrity status and money" to persuade children under the age of age for them to send sexually explicit content.
Harris, who promoted himself as a "trustworthy mentor," pressured his victims and offered to pay them in exchange for sexual conduct and favors, according to prosecutors.
When that didn't work, he "threatened to release the videos they had sent if they refused to continue," according to the sentencing memorandum.
Prosecutors said Harris' behavior continued until his arrest in September 2020.
Musician R. Kelly is sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexual abuse and trafficking of minors
June 29, 202200:19
The defendant's attorneys argued that their client
had been sexually assaulted as a child
and therefore had a "skewed version of what he understood to be appropriate relationships," according to court documents.
They asked for six years in prison.
The former entertainer and reality TV star initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but pleaded guilty in February to two of the indictment's charges, receiving child pornography and traveling interstate for the purpose of engaging in a sexual act with a minor.
Two of the victims are twin brothers.
One of them told police that Harris solicited oral sex from him in a bathroom during a cheerleading event they both attended, according to the complaint.
Harris was also accused of contacting the boy on Instagram in 2018, when Harris was 19 and the boy was 13.
[This woman was punished for killing a man who abused her as a child. Now, 27 years later, she receives a pardon]
The complaint further alleges that one of the boys said he sent Harris nude photos on Snapchat at the defendant's request and contacted Harris on FaceTime, where Harris asked the boy to expose his private parts.
Epstein case: Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking
June 28, 202200:34
A brother told investigators that Harris was "touchy" and doing "strange things" to him and his brother, according to the complaint.
He said Harris would ask him for nude photos and when the boy refused, Harris would become "pushy," according to the complaint.
The brothers shared their story on the second season of
Cheer,
saying they
were initially afraid to speak out due to Harris being a celebrity and how it would affect their status in the cheerleading community.
Sarah Klein, an attorney for the brothers, praised the teens for their "tremendous courage" and sacrifice in a statement following Harris' sentencing.
[These coaches were banned from Olympic sports for alleged abuse. Why do they keep training children?]
"Jerry Harris's guilt has been firmly established," Klein said.
"The sentence he received reflects the seriousness of his crimes and the lifelong pain his victims will suffer."
The boys testified as victims before sentencing, with one of the brothers commenting that he was mourning his lost freedom and childhood.
"I had to stop cheering at my old gym because people there didn't agree with me and my family for choosing to speak out," she said. "I felt like the only real community I had at the time was taken away from me for doing the right thing." ".
Victim of Naasón Joaquín accuses the California prosecutor of corruption for negotiating with a "sexual terrorist"
June 7, 202201:04
Another 17-year-old victim told investigators that Harris was "relentless" in soliciting photos of her on Snapchat, according to the complaint.
The boy said he repeatedly turned Harris down until Harris offered to pay him.
Harris allegedly admitted to investigators during a voluntary interview that she sent and received nude images and sent text messages to the brothers, according to the complaint.
He also said that he had solicited and received nude photos of 10 to 15 other minors and that he had performed oral and anal sex on a 15-year-old boy, according to the complaint.
Harris appeared in the documentary series
Cheer,
which follows a team of Texas cheerleaders at Navarro College.
The second season of the series addressed the allegations against Harris.
