Mendeecees Harris NOT Guilty In Teen Sex Trial

Jurors in New Jersey this afternoon acquitted “Love & Hip Hop” star Mendeecees of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter by coercing her with money and other manipulation when was 15-years-old.

Mendeecees Harris NOT Guilty In Teen Sex Trial

According to Cliffview Pilot reports:

Fellow “Love & Hip Hop” star Yandy Smith was among those in the courtroom who leapt to their feet and stomped, clapped, shouted and sobbed, raising arms skyward, as the verdicts to the eight individual charges were read just before 4 p.m.

“I love you!” one of them shouted to the jurors, who returned the verdicts after a few hours of deliberations.

Sheriff’s officers then asked them to return to order.

When they wouldn’t, Presiding Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebbi directed the officer to escort the group out of her courtroom.

“The reality of celebrity life is, unfortunately, you sometimes walk around with a target on your back,” defense attorney Emil Lisboa told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “You don’t know if your friends are your friends or are just trying to get something out of you.”

Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Demetra Maurice, in turn, said: “I respect the jury’s decision and the time and attention they gave this case.”

The alleged victim’s grandmother and aunt left as the verdicts were being read.

“It’s in God hands,” the grandmother, who is a pastor, told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “The truth will come out.”

She was among those who remained, despite the weather, as the day wore on. She prayed at times, as did Smith, who wept as she and several people who accompanied her throughout the trial huddled together.

Harris’s troubles are far from over. Instead of going free, he was returned to the Bergen County Jail, where federal marshals have been holding him on a detainer.

He’d been free on bail pending the start of the trial, but he surrendered here last week after being named in a federal indictment out of Rochester, N.Y. that accuses him and two other men with trafficking $2.5 million worth of drugs

The government is expected to bring that case against him now. Arrangements are expected to be made to extradite him to New York early next week.

Although Mendeecees was found not guilty today, the court of public opinion is probably less favorable for the reality TV star. It’s going to be hard to shake off the pedo label once it’s stuck onto you like a bad smell.

Do you think Yandy and her baby daddy should continue to be featured on VH1 ‘Love & Hip Hop’ or should their story be canceled??