Jeremiah Harris (born July 14, 1999) is an American former cheerleader and convicted

sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crime ...

who received national recognition after appearing in the 2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

Cheer Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle English ...

''. In September and December 2020, he was charged by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) with production of

child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...

and other child-related sex crimes: "sexual exploitation of children, receiving child pornography, traveling with the attempt to engage in sexual conduct with a minor, enticement and other charges. On February 10, 2022, Harris pled guilty as charged to two of the seven indictments against him. On July 6, 2022, Harris was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and 8 years of court supervised probation to commence after his release from prison.

Early life and education

Harris was born in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...

and raised in

Bolingbrook, Illinois The village of Bolingbrook is a southwest suburb of Chicago in Will and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 73,922. As of 2010, it is the 17th largest incorporated place in Illinois and the sta ...

. When he was 16 years old, his mother died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

. He attended

Waubonsie Valley High School Waubonsie Valley High School (WVHS) is a public four-year high school in Aurora, Illinois, United States. It was established in 1975 and it is one of 3 high schools in Indian Prairie School District 204, along with Neuqua Valley High School and M ...

followed by

Navarro College Navarro College is a public community college in Texas with its main campus in Corsicana and branches in Fairfield, Mexia, Midlothian, and Waxahachie. The college has an annual student enrollment of more than 9,000 students. The Corsicana ...

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...

, where he was a member of the cheerleader team coached by

Monica Aldama Monica Aldama (born February 9, 1972) is an American cheerleading coach. She is the coach of the co-ed cheerleading team at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. Education A graduate of Corsicana High School, Aldama enrolled at Tyler Junior ...

. During the season one finale of ''

'', he received a Regional Scholars Award from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

. He attended the school for the fall semester, but ultimately returned to Navarro College. He became famous for his eccentric personality.

Career

In January 2020, he appeared on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

'', along with other members of the ''Cheer'' team. In February 2020, DeGeneres announced that Harris would be ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'''s Oscars correspondent. He is known for his eccentric and over-the-top "mat talk," a cheerleading term, in which he yells and cheers on other people. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, he made a guest appearance on the cheerleading themed song "Mas(k)ot" by

Todrick Hall Todrick Hall (born April 4, 1985) is an American singer, choreographer, and YouTuber. He gained national attention on the ninth season of the televised singing competition ''American Idol''. Following this, he amassed a huge following on YouTu ...

from his album ''

Quarantine Queen ''Quarantine Queen'' is the fourth extended play by American singer-songwriter, actor, and YouTuber Todrick Hall. Inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, the album was written, recorded, and produced by Hall in the week leading up to its release on Apr ...

''.

2020 arrest

In September 2020, the FBI announced they had a warrant for Harris for allegedly soliciting sex from minors. The case involves twin brothers who were 13 when Harris, 19 at the time, allegedly sent suggestive messages asking for pictures and seeking sex. The boys' mother at first dismissed the contacts, but after another cheerleading coach allegedly assaulted them, felt there might be a pervasive atmosphere of tolerance of sexual abuse either in the sport or the companies that govern them. United States All Star Federation, Varsity Spirit and Cheer Athletics were later named as parties to the legal proceedings. On September 17, 2020, Harris was arrested by the FBI and charged in federal court in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

for production of child pornography. Harris allegedly admitted to soliciting and receiving explicit messages on

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...

from other individuals he knew were minors; he also allegedly admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old in mid-2019 when Harris was 19, according to federal court records. Harris was suspended from at least one company, and faced the loss of several sponsorships. A spokesperson for Harris denied the allegations, "We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager. We are confident that when the investigation is completed the true facts will be revealed." Harris's cheer coach

posted on Instagram that she was devastated by the news of his arrest. In a statement about his arrest, Netflix said "Like everyone we are shocked by this news. Any abuse of minors is a terrible crime and we respect the legal process." On December 12, 2020, it was reported that Harris faced an additional seven charges involving incidents with four other minors from August 2017 to August 2020, including a charge involving an alleged incident where Harris traveled from Texas to Florida to have sex with a 15-year-old in May 2019. Harris pleaded not guilty to the new charges. On February 10, 2022, Harris pleaded guilty to allegations of child sex abuse. He was obtaining photos of child sexual abuse and soliciting sex from minors. Harris was held without bond in a federal detention center and was set to be sentenced on June 28, 2022. Harris was instead sentenced on July 6, 2022, to 12 years in prison, followed by eight years of court-supervised probation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jerry 1999 births Living people African-American television personalities Navarro College cheer alumni People from Bolingbrook, Illinois Television personalities from Chicago People from Hinsdale, Illinois 21st-century African-American people LGBT African Americans American people convicted of child pornography offenses