Cheer star Jerry Harris arrested and charged with production of child pornography

Harris is accused of allegedly enticing an underage boy to produce sexually explicit videos and photos of himself

Jerry Harris at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on 9 February 2020 in Beverly Hills, California (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Jerry Harris, one of the breakout stars of Netflix’s documentary series Cheer, has been arrested on a child pornography charge.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced the arrest on Thursday. A complaint filed that same day charges Harris with one count of producing child pornography.

Harris is accused of allegedly enticing an underage boy to produce sexually explicit videos and photos of himself, the US Attorney’s Office said in a release.

A spokesperson for Harris has previously disputed the allegations in a statement.  Harris was arrested on Thursday morning and was scheduled to make a court appearance later in the day.

Production of child pornography is punishable by a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years.

Allegations regarding Harris emerged earlier this week, when a lawsuit was reportedly filed against him in Texas. A spokesperson for Harris told People in reaction to that complaint: “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, now 21, was 19 years old at the time of some of the alleged facts.

The Independent has contacted his representative for further comment.

Cheer, a six-part docu-series focusing on a nationally ranked cheerleading team, was released on Netflix in January this year. The programme has won two Emmy Awards and is nominated in the Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, which will be announced during this year’s ceremony on Sunday 20 September.