Jerry Harris has pleaded not guilty to new child sex abuse charges.
Jerry Harris
The 21-year-old reality star's lawyers entered his plea on Thursday (17.12.20), less than a week after prosecutors unsealed a seven-count indictment - four counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of enticement, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor - which outlined new allegations that he had exchanged explicit images with minors and lured them to cheerleading competitions, where he allegedly had sex with them.
The 'Cheer' star was previously charged with producing child pornography in September following an FBI raid on his Chicago home.
According to authorities in Illinois at the time, the investigation was kicked off when the cheerleader allegedly contacted an underage youth via a social media app and "repeatedly enticed him to produce sexually explicit videos and photographs of himself", despite being told in their first exchange that the alleged victim was just 13 years old.
The youngster's lawyers previously said: "We are grateful that the U.S. Attorney and the FBI have taken swift action to protect children by investigating, arresting and charging Jerry Harris.
"This was made possible because our clients' mother had the courage to report Harris to the FBI as well as the Fort Worth Police Department and provided evidentiary proof of the manipulation, sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation that her sons had suffered."
A lawsuit was also filed which alleged that Jerry - who was a roving reporter at this year's Academy Awards for 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' - had solicited child pornography images and videos from two twin boys on multiple occasions.
The complaint stated that, during a voluntary interview with law enforcement officers earlier this week, Jerry admitted to asking one of the alleged victims - who he knew was 13 - to take explicit photographs and videos through Snapchat and also confirmed he had engaged in ongoing conversations with the teenager via the platform from December 2018 to March 2020.
to engaging in ongoing Snapchat conversations with the individual beginning in Dec. 2018 and continuing through March 2020.
The criminal complaint stated: "There is probable cause to believe that Jerry Harris knowingly employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed and coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct."
A spokesperson for the Netflix personality denied the allegations against him in September.
They said: “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.”