A Bergen County jury reached its verdict yesterday (February 8th) in the trial of Mendeecees Harris, now 34-years old, who had been accused of luring a 15-year old girl into oral sex and other inappropriate conduct in 2010, when he was living with the girl’s mother in Lodi.
The hip-hop manager, who recently starred in VH1’s reality series, “Love and Hip-Hop” was facing multiple charges of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and promoting prostitution. During the trial, the victim testified that on multiple occasions in 2009, when she was 15-years old, Harris showed her pornography on the computer, asked her to expose her breasts to him, masturbated in front of her, and received oral sex from her. Harris was also alleged to have given the victim money for various expenses, which ultimately rose to the level of him paying her for sex. Harris took the stand in his own defense during the trial, and testified that he did not commit any of the acts alleged.
The jury found Harris “not guilty” of all 8 charges in the indictment. Had he been convicted, he would likely have faced decades of imprisonment in New Jersey State Prison and various other collateral consequences associated with a sexual assault conviction, including Community Supervision for Life, Megan’s Law registration, and a psychosexual evaluation.
Following the verdict yesterday afternoon, Harris was released from the Bergen County Correctional Facility into federal custody. He will be transported to NY, where he is facing cocaine trafficking charges. For more information, see the NorthJersey.com article entitled, “Jury finds ‘Love and Hip Hop’ star not guilty of underage sex charge.”
