Jerry Harris, star of Netflix’s cheerleading docuseries “Cheer,” was arrested Thursday and charged with production of child p0rnography three days after FBI agents removed bags of evidence from his Naperville, Illinois home.
The 21-year-old male cheerleader was the subject of a federal investigation after the mom of 14-year-old twin boys, Charlie and Sam, found sexually explicit texts and alerted Varsity Brands, who, in turn, notified police.
The twins are suing Harris over sexual exploitation harassment that began when they were just 13. The brothers filed separate lawsuits against Harris this week, accusing the flamboyant star of harassing them at cheer competitions.
It was reported on Monday that the flamboyant cheerleader was under investigation amid allegations he “solicited sexually explicit photos and sex from a minor”.
The criminal complaint alleges Harris requested nude photos from the boys.
In one Snapchat exchange, Harris asked one of the twins, “Would you ever want to****.” The boy interpreted the message as a sex act.
In another message, one of the boys sent Harris a photo of himself and Harris allegedly responded: “Do it naked and take a video.”
In court documents, the siblings, who are Caucasian, alleged they befriended Harris, who is Black, during a cheer competition in 2018, and were “star struck” by him.
Following steamy text messages from Harris requesting nude photos from the boys, they met up with Harris in “secluded locations at various competitions”.
After their mother found out about the sexually explicit messages, she reported him to cheerleading organization Varsity Brands, who contacted police.
Harris, who was 19 at the time of the incidents, worked for Varsity at a cheer camp last year.
“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,” wrote Varsity’s Chief Legal Officer Burton Brillhart in letters to police in Florida and Texas.
Since Cheer premiered in January, Harris has covered the Oscars red carpet for Ellen DeGeneres, signed endorsement deals with Schmidt’s deodorant, Panera Bread and American Eagle and racked up over a million followers on Instagram.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden held a chat with Harris weeks before investigators raided Harris’s home.
Harris was part of Biden’s plan to help “win back the internet.”
“If the same percentage of young blacks turned out and registered to vote as the average voter, you’d increase voting by several million people, you could change the outcome of elections,” Biden told Harris.
During a recent episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast “The Big Ticket,” Harris, who was referred to as a “gay icon,” said his late mom was watching over him.
“I feel like she’s very, very happy and excited for everything that’s been going on, and she’s really loving it,” said Harris, whose mother died of lung cancer when he was 16. “I know she’s telling me to always stay humble, because she doesn’t want to see me get a big head.”
Harris met his cheerleading inspiration, Gabrielle Union, last month.
