'Cheer' star Jerry Harris remains jailed after detention hearing on child porn charges postponed
"Cheer" star Jerry Harris, who was arrested Thursday on charges of producing child pornography, remains in jail after a telephone hearing Monday in Chicago federal court in which his lawyers asked to postpone a decision on whether he will be released on bond.
During the 10-minute hearing, Harris's lawyer, Todd Pugh, told Judge Sunil R. Harjani that he waived his right to a detention hearing because he is trying to arrange a residence to stay in if he is granted release on bond.
He also waived his right to a preliminary hearing, Harris told the judge. No date was set for future hearings.
That leaves Harris, 21, still in the custody of the U.S. Marshals at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
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Harris, who experienced a meteoric rise to fame in January after he became the breakout star of the Netflix docuseries "Cheer," had been under investigation by the FBI for soliciting photos and sex from minors.
According to federal court records, Harris admitted to agents that he solicited and received explicit messages on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 individuals he knew were minors, had sex with a 15-year-old at a cheerleading competition in 2019 and paid a 17-year-old money in exchange for nude photos.
USA TODAY reported last Monday that the initial criminal investigation was based on allegations brought by 14-year-old twin brothers. In interviews, the boys described a pattern of harassment, both online and at cheer competitions, that started when they were 13 and Harris was 19. They said it continued for more than a year. On Monday the FBI executed a search warrant at Harris' Naperville, Illinois, home. Since then, agents have interviewed other minors about their interactions with Harris, court records show.
Last week, Harris appeared Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman. Harris did not enter a plea. If convicted, Harris faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison.
Contributing: Erin Jensen, Tricia L. Nadolny, Marisa Kwiatkowski, Daniel Connolly
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Cheer' star Jerry Harris remains jailed on child porn charges
