Teen twins who accused 'Cheer' star Jerry Harris of sexual abuse say they don't regret going to the FBI with their accusations despite being ostracized by the cheer community



On January 29, 2020 in New York City, Jerry Harris will speak about "Cheer".

The twins accused Jerry Harris of sexual abuse.

Sam and Charlie said they did not regret going to the FBI.

Representatives for Harris and USASF didn't respond to questions.

The second season of "Cheer" focused on the case of former cheerleader Jerry Harris, who was charged with child pornography and sexual abuse. The twins say that they have no regrets about reporting their experiences with the celebrity cheerleader to the FBI.

The team of athletes prepares for a national title in the movie "Cheer", which is about a cheerleading squad from Corsicana, Texas. Harris was a star of season one, interviewing celebrities, walking red carpets, and even appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

In the second episode of the season, titled "Jerry," Sam and Charlie, who are both minor, explained why they came forward with their allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of Harris.

Sam and Charlie said their mother helped them come forward.

Sam said on "Cheer" that a boy quit the gym because he didn't want to be tied up with Charlie and me speaking out.

"After I spoke out with my brother, a lot of the sense of community was ripped away from them in cheerleading," Charlie said on the docuseries. When he and his brother entered a hallway, everyone would just be staring at them, pointing at them, and whispering to them, making them feel "isolated."

Both Charlie and Sam said on "Cheer" that they would come forward again despite their negative experiences within cheerleading, and that they don't have any regrets about speaking out about their alleged experiences.

"I want to be the leader of the change in cheer," said Charlie.

The twins' mother helped them tell their story.

On the "Jerry" episode, the twins' mother said she found explicit messages on Charlie's phone from Harris and took action to report the behavior when her sons were comfortable.

Harris first contacted Charlie through social media in December of last year. He asked me if I could send butt pics after I found out the cheerleader was 13 years old. "Cheer." Charlie said.

Charlie said on "Cheer" that he tried to avoid Harris, who convinced him to go into a bathroom with him.

"Jerry cornered me into the bathroom stall and begged me to have sex with him," Charlie said.

He said that the teen left the bathroom.

Harris didn't reply to Insider's request for comment.

According to an interview with "Cheer", she said that Sam and Charlie were hesitant to file reports at first because she became aware of their correspondence with Harris at the height of Jerry's popularity.

Charlie told his mom "I want to do something about this" when he saw Harris talking with Biden on social media.

Cheerleaders and cheer coach Monica Aldama.

The NBC/NBCU Photo Bank has Monica Aldama, Jerry Harris, and La'Darius Marshall.

The twins said that their schoolwork was bad before they came forward. Sam said he felt sad and angry about his alleged experiences with Harris.

When her sons were comfortable sharing their stories, she contacted the co-owner of the Cheer Athletics gym. The US All-Star Federation reported Harris' alleged behavior with her sons to them after she said Rogers was "skeptical" of her. According to the USASF website, the organization governs competitive cheer and dance in the country by establishing fair and consistent rules and competition standards and maintaining a safe environment for our athletes.

She made two reports to the USASF within eight or nine weeks of each other, but both were ignored.

Rogers wrote in a statement to Insider that his response was not immediate as the incident was brought to the Plano, Waco and Frisco Texas Police Departments with official report files accepted within days.

The US All-Star Federation did not reply immediately.

After Sam and Charlie said they realized anonymous reporting through cheerleading institutions wasn't working, they reported Harris to the FBI. It was only then that swift action was taken.

Harris was being investigated by the FBI in 2020.

Jerry Harris made an appearance at Oprah Winfrey's " 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus" tour stop in February 2020.

According to USA Today, the FBI began an investigation into the accusations against Harris in September 2020 after Sam and Charlie came forward with their allegations.

Harris was arrested and charged with production of child-pornography in September of 2020. At that time, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Charlie and Sam. Harris was charged with a total of seven counts regarding five minor children by December 2020, according to USA Today.

The initial charges were pushed back by a rep for Harris.

The initial allegations of sexual abuse against Jerry Harris were categorically denied by a spokesman for Harris in a September 2020 statement to Variety. The true facts will be revealed when the investigation is complete.

The New York Times reported that Harris pleaded not guilty in December 2020.

The second season of "Cheer" is available to watch.

The original article can be found on Insider.