Cheerleader Jerry Harris, who starred in Netflix’s Cheer docuseries, is reportedly being investigated by the FBI after he allegedly solicited sex and sexually explicit photos from twin brothers who were minors.
The allegations come from 14-year-old Texas boys, Charlie and Sam, who claim they were harassed at cheer competitions and online from when they were 13 and Harris was 19 years old.
Federal agents executed a search warrant at his home in Naperville, Illinois, on Monday afternoon as part of the investigation, sources told USA Today.
A spokesperson with the bureau confirmed law enforcement were conducting court-authorized activity in the area, but declined to elaborate further.
Harris, the breakout star of Netflix’s January docuseries Cheer, has not been criminally charged.
The 21-year-old has not publicly commented on the allegations or subsequent investigation.
A DailyMail.com request seeking comment through his publicist has not yet been returned.
Cheerleader Jerry Harris, famed for his appearance on Netflix’s Cheer, is being investigated by the FBI after he allegedly solicited sex and sexually explicit photos from minors, according to USA Today
The FBI executed a search warrant at a home in Naperville, Illinois on Monday
The FBI investigation includes investigators in Texas where the twins live and in Illinois
The criminal probe is allegedly based on allegations that were reported to police separately by Varsity, the global authority of competitive cheerleading.
USA Today reported that in letters to police in Florida and Texas dated August 1, the company’s chief legal officer Burton Brilhart said Varsity had learned of ‘inappropriate sexual conduct’ allegations against Harris and was disclosing the information as legally required.
‘As a result of the recent allegation, we have barred this person from having any affiliation with Varsity Brands or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, now and in the future,’ Brillhart wrote, as reported by USA Today.
In his letters, Brillhart describes Harris as a former employee who was not actively working for Varsity at the time of the alleged incidents.
However, social media posts of Harris’ from May 2019 claim that he was working for the National Cheerleaders Association, which is a Varsity brand.
Later the same year, in the summer, he posted a number of photos and videos of himself apparently coaching at one of NCA’s camps.
After Cheer was released on Netflix Charlie says his friends begged him to FaceTime Harris so they could say hello and he claims Harris agree on the condition that Charlie sent him nude images.
Included within the letters were two screenshots. In one of the images, taken from Snapchat, a picture, said to show the upper part of Harris’ face, is accompanied with a message to Sam on February 9 reading, ‘Would you ever want to f***’.
The second screenshot, consisting of a series of text messages from a May 2, 2019 exchange, reportedly shows an individual named ‘jerry harris’ writing: ‘Hey btw I found a place for us to do stuff it’s actually pretty good haha.’
The message was from the day before The Summit cheerleading competition in Orlando, Florida and Charlie says he let him down gently.
‘I just didn’t want to make a deal out of anything at all,’ Charlie told USA Today.
In the USA Today article addition details from messages were revealed on Monday night. Responding to an image of Charlie posing with his leg stretched above his head, the account replied: ‘Do it naked and take a video and show me.’
In an interview with USA Today conducted in August, Charlie said the contact left him with anxiety, resulting in lack of sleep and suffered grades.
‘It was just eating me alive,’ Charlie said. ‘It was just making me so gross and uncomfortable. Every time I saw his name or something like that, I was just cringing about it.’
Cheer was released on Netflix in January and the complaints to authorities began in May
Harris became Cheer’s break-out star, and later appeared on the Ellen Show as a guest presenter, interviewing celebrities at the Oscars (pictured above during a different appearance)
The FBI interviewed the twins on August 28 and then spoke to Charlie again on Friday, according to their mother Kristen.
She said the agency retrieved evidence from their cell phones and gathered documentation from cheer events they attended where Harris was present.
Kristen said that she first reported the allegations to the US All Star Federation (USASF) on May 15 but only got a brief reply from Vice President of Membership Amy Clark.
Kristen followed up on July 9 with a second report prompting Clark to set up a phone call with her. However USASF, which governs the cheer sport, didn’t suspend Harris until Monday when it was reported.
On Monday, Kristen sued Varsity, USASF, and Cheer Athletics Gym where Harris has cheered.
Cheer Athletics Gym owner Angela Rogers said that while she hasn’t been affiliated with the gym in Texas since March 1, she reported the allegations to police in May.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Varsity said: ‘We can’t comment on an active law enforcement investigation; we continue to cooperate with authorities in their inquiries on this matter.’
Harris was made famous earlier this year, following the January release of Netflix’s Cheer documentary series, which followed Texas’ Navarro College cheerleaders in their bid to secure a national title.
In June, he appeared in a short video alongside Joe Biden in which he urged black voters to turn out on Election Day and vote for the former Vice President.
Cheer later received six Emmy nominations, and Harris, beloved for his positive and supportive demeanor in the show, became its break-out star.
In February, Harris starred as a guest presenter interviewing celebrities on the red carpet of the Oscars for the Ellen DeGeneres show.
Then in June, he appeared in a short video alongside Joe Biden in which he urged black voters to turn out on Election Day and vote for the former Vice President.
Harris, who has amassed more than 1.2 million Instagram followers, also partnered with a number of companies for various advertising campaigns, including Walmart, Cheerios and Starburst.
Netflix had not responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment at the time of publication.
Special agent Siobhan Johnson of Chicago FBI said: ‘The FBI is conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity in that area. Department of Justice policy prevents the FBI from commenting on the existence or nonexistence of any investigations that may be occurring. There is no further information at this time.’
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