The US actor Jeremiah Harris has been in prison for child pornography and sex with a minor for a long time: The "Cheer" star had pleaded guilty in February, in a statement before the verdict he apologized to his victims.
Jeremiah "Jerry" Harris has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a federal court in Chicago. The actor, known from the Netflix documentary "Cheer", was on trial for child pornography and sex with a minor.
In December 2020, Harris was charged with seven counts, according to CNN. The 22-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and one count of receiving images of child sexual abuse.
These included incidents in which Harris persuaded a 17-year-old to send him sexually explicit photos for money, and a trip he took to Florida to engage in "illicit sexual activity" with a 15-year-old. The actor conceded five other charges, but US prosecutors agreed under an agreement to drop the remaining five charges.
Harris was arrested in September 2020 and has been in prison ever since. "The penalty is 12 years in prison followed by eight years of court-supervised parole," Assistant Attorney Joseph D. Fitzpatrick told CNN.
According to the Daily Mail, prosecutors had urged a lengthy prison sentence and said Harris's status as a celebrity enabled him to "persuade and induce" his young victims to engage in sexual activity. The judge urged Harris to view his sentence as "an expression of the seriousness of your crimes, coupled with the hope that all is not lost for you and your victims, and that some healing may come in the future."
Before sentencing, Harris apologized to his victims. "I deeply regret the trauma my abuse has caused you. I deeply pray that your suffering will end." He also explained: "I'm not a bad person. I'm still learning who I am and what my job is."
The second season of the hit series Cheer, which aired last year, addressed the allegations against Harris in an episode titled "Jerry," and included an interview with two of his accusers.
