Season two of the Netflix documentary series ‘Cheer’ directly addresses the child sexual abuse charges made against Jerry Harris, a Naperville native and star from the first season.
What Happened?
The show, which first aired in January 2020, followed Harris and the rest of Corsicana, Texas’s Navarro College cheer team. Harris was arrested that year, facing charges of child pornography and soliciting minors for sex.
Harris admitted in an interview with investigators he, while at the time older than 18, had asked for and received sexually explicit images from 10 to 14 victims he knew were minors.
‘Cheer’ Season Two
The fifth episode of the show’s newest season, titled ‘Jerry,’ tackles the issue head-on with testimony from two of Harris’s underage accusers and their mother.
“This was not just a handful of times that this happened,” the mother told CBS 2 Chicago. “He was an incredibly persistent predator that forced himself into the center of my son’s lives for over a year.”
The mother of the victims tipped off federal agents after finding pornographic images and texts with Harris on her child’s phone, CBS 2 said.
One of the boys explained in the show, “I told him that I was 13, and then after that – right off the bat – he asked me, ‘Can I have butt pics?’ or ‘Can you send butt pics?’” according to the CBS 2 report.
Awaiting Trial
Harris has remained in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago since his arrest. No court date has been set. Harris pleaded not guilty on all charges.
If convicted, Harris faces minimum sentences of 15 years for each of his four sexual exploitation charges and child pornography charge, as well as a minimum sentence of 10 years for an enticement charge, Men’sHealth said.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Flanagan reports.
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