Jerry Harris from ‘Cheer’ accused of sexual harassment at Fort Worth cheer competition
Jeremiah Harris, known for his role on the Netflix documentary series “Cheer,” is accused of sexually harassing boys in Fort Worth at a cheerleading competition, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.
The lawsuit accuses Harris of asking two 13-year-old boys to send sexually explicit pictures of themselves and asking one of them for oral sex while at the Fort Worth Convention Center in February 2019. The lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County district court.
A spokesperson for Harris, 21, told ABC News and Variety in a statement, “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.”
The lawsuit says the cheer companies sponsoring the event, Varsity Spirit LLC and United States All Star Federation, were negligent in supervising the boys and knew that Harris had a “disposition” to engage in sexual misconduct with minors, but still allowed him to be a coach and mentor to underage children. The suit asks for a trial by jury and $1 million in damages.
In 2018, Harris met the boys and befriended them at a national competition and began “grooming” them, the lawsuit says. The boys, who were “star struck” by Harris, gave him their numbers and social media information. Harris started to ask the boys for sexually explicit photos and about their sexual experiences, the lawsuit alleges.
Harris manipulated the boys into sending explicit photos by telling them he would boost their social media presence by commenting on their posts, but only if they sent him explicit photos, the lawsuit alleges, adding that he would also send explicit photos and videos of himself to the boys.
While at a cheer competition, in May 2019, Harris texted one of the boys: “Hey btw I found a place for us to do stuff it’s actually pretty good,” according to the suit. On another occasion, Harris texted, “Would you ever want to ****,” the suit alleges.
At the Fort Worth cheer competition, Harris allegedly told one of the boys to follow him to a secluded bathroom and pleaded and demanded that the boy perform oral sex on him. The boy continued to say no, and was in the bathroom for so long, he got texts from his teammates and brother asking where he was, and he ran out of the bathroom and rejoined his teammates, the lawsuit says.
When the boys were 14, their mother found out about the messages from Harris and that there were other minors he had allegedly sexually harassed, the lawsuit says. The mother reported Harris to USASF, Varsity and Cheer Athletics Inc. in February 2020, but Harris continued to have a “green light” to serve as a coach and mentor to children, the lawsuit says.
The mother made a report with the Fort Worth Police Department on July 10, according to the suit. She also reported the allegations against Harris to the FBI last month.
The FBI said in a statement provided to The Associated Press that it had conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activity” in Naperville, Illinois, where Harris lives, on Monday. But the FBI said that policy prevented the agency from commenting on “the existence or nonexistence of any investigations that may be occurring,” The AP reported.
Harris has not been criminally charged.
USASF did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The AP on Tuesday.
Varsity said it couldn’t comment on an active law enforcement investigation and said it was continuing to cooperate with authorities.
Cheer Athletics, a chain of gyms, also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Cheer Athletics owner Angela Rogers told USA TODAY, which first reported the allegations, that Harris hasn’t been affiliated with the gym since March 1. Rogers told the newspaper that she learned of the allegations against him in mid-May and reported them to police.
The Netflix show “Cheer” focuses on a cheer squad at Navarro College, about an hour south of Dallas.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
