Harris pleaded guilty at a change-of-ple hearing in Chicago federal court to one count each of traveling with the intent of engaging in illicit sexual conduct, and one count receiving child pornography. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Harris, 22 years old, pleaded guilty in two of seven felony charges against him. One was for convincing a 17-yearold to send him explicit photos for money, and the other stemming out of a Florida trip that he took with the intention of “engaging illicit sexual conduct.” The remaining five charges were dropped by the prosecution in a plea deal.
The sentence for the child pornography offense can range from 5 to 20 years, while the sentence for the second count can be up to 30 years. Harris will be sentenced on June 28. Harris is currently being held at a federal prison.
, a Chicago suburb named Naperville, was arrested on September 2020 for producing child pornography. Prosecutors claimed that Harris solicited images and videos from two brothers aged 14 years.
Federal prosecutors claimed that Harris repeatedly asked a minor teen to view pornographic images and videos between December 2018 to March 2020.
In December, was indicted for additional chargesalleging misconduct, in Illinois, Florida, and Texas. The indictment states that Harris solicited sex from minor cheerleading competitors and persuaded teenage boys to send him inappropriate photos and videos.
According to the indictment, Harris confessed to FBI agents that he asked a teenager boy to send him lewd photos of himself and that he requested child pornography via Snapchat from at least 10-15 other minors.
“Cheer,” which was released January 2020, was a huge hit and Harris was instantly recognizable for his positive attitude and encouraging “mat talk”. Harris also interviewed many celebrities on the red carpet of the Academy Awards for “The Ellen DeGeneres show.”
The documentary follows the cheerleading team from Navarro College, Corsicana Texas.
