Netflix star arrested over child porn

US personality Jerry Harris has been arrested on a charge that he enticed a 13-year-old boy to send him explicit photos and videos.

Harris, 21, is a breakout star from the Netflix documentary Cheer, which profiles a Texas cheer squad.

According to US prosecutors, the two exchanged explicit photos on Snapchat from December 2018 – March 2020.

Variety reports Harris admitted that he had exchanged the photos with the boy and faces one count of producing child pornography.

He made an initial court appearance in Chicago on Thursday afternoon and will be held in custody at least until a detention hearing on Monday. But prosecutors are arguing that he should be denied bond, as he poses a danger to the community.

According to reports Harris allegedly solicited oral sex from the boy in a bathroom during a cheerleading event in February 2019, but the boy refused.

“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,” attorneys Morgan Stewart and Sarah Klein said.

A spokesperson for Harris told CNN in response to the lawsuit, “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 charge follows an unrelated social media protest over Netflix documentary Cuties, a French coming-of-age film which many claim sexualizes young girls.

There are reports of subscription cancellations, with U.S. congressmen calling for Netflix to remove the film and asking authorities to investigate whether the streaming service or filmmakers violated federal laws against the production and distribution of child pornography.