Netflix's Cheer star Jerry Harris sentenced to 12 years in prison for child sex crimes

dailystar.co.uk:

Netflix star Jerry Harris, 22, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in a federal sex abuse case.Jerry rose to fame in the original Netflix series Cheer and pleaded guilty to coercing adolescent boys to send him sexually explicit photos and soliciting sex from minors.

The judge handed down the sentence in a Chicago federal court on Wednesday (July 6) after a lengthy hearing.READ MORE: Viggo Mortensen's brush with death as oxygen tank cut out during deep diving sceneAlthough he was charged with seven federal crimes, he ultimately pleaded guilty to two: receipt of child sexual abuse material and one count of travelling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.The actor paid a 17-year-old to send him sexually explicit photos and also travelled to Florida "for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct" with a 15-year-old boy.In their sentencing, prosecutors said Harris used "his status as a competitive cheerleader, his social media persona, and eventually his celebrity and money, to persuade and entice his young victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct for him or with him."Harris’ lawyers are seeking a shorter sentence of six years, followed by eight years of supervised release as they said he had a traumatic childhood.They described him as “both victimiser and victim” and said that he was sexually assaulted himself as a child.For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here. His lawyers wrote: “The trauma he experienced as a child normalised his skewed version of what he understood to be appropriate relationships.“No one was there to stand up for him when he was sexually assaulted as a minor.“He is grateful that is not.