Jerry Harris' cheerleading coach, Monica Aldama, says her "heart is shattered into a million pieces" following Jerry's arrest for child pornography.
Monica -- the head coach of the Navarro College squad featured on the Netflix docuseries, "Cheer" -- has broken her silence on the arrest of her popular "mat talk" leader, saying ... "I am devastated by this shocking, unexpected news."
She adds ... "Our children must be protected from abuse and exploitation, and I'm praying hard for the victims and everyone affected."
As we reported ... Jerry was arrested Thursday morning in Illinois and has been hit with a charge of production of child pornography. According to the feds, he allegedly contacted 2 teenage boys online, and repeatedly asked them to send nude images of themselves.
Harris allegedly began contacting the boys in December 2018 when he was 19 and they were 13.
The feds claim Jerry has admitted to engaging in continuous social media conversations with the minors that were sexual in nature and attempting to entice them into performing sex acts with him in person ... including at cheerleading events.
As we reported, the FBI had launched an investigation into the matter -- and Jerry's 2 alleged victims have also sued him.
Monica says she and her family are mourning "during this heartbreaking time." She is currently a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars" while continuing her role as head coach of the Navarro cheerleading team.