Glee Actor Mark Salling Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography
"Glee" actor Mark Salling has officially pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
On Monday, the 35-year-old went to a downtown Los Angeles federal court where he pleaded guilty, and as part of the plea deal, he has admitted to possessing several videos and images of children being sexually abused. Upon his arrest back in 2015, Salling faced a maximum of 20 years in prison, but upon entering the plea deal, he will possibly be sentenced to four to seven years in federal prison as well as spending 20 years under supervision along with registering as a sex offender.
Apart from registering as a sex offender, Salling would also need to enter a treatment program and must refrain from coming into contact, whether physical, verbal or electronically, with anyone under the age of 18. He would also need to stay 100 feet away from schools, public swimming pools, playgrounds, arcades and youth centers.
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Michael Proctor, Mark Salling's attorney, released a public statement saying, "Mark is focused on accepting responsibility and attempting to atone for his conduct."
Best known for playing the role of Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the hit TV show "Glee," Salling was arrested back in Dec. 2015 after his girlfriend went to the police to report the actor's collection of child pornography.
According to federal investigators, they had found about 25,000 explicit images of children as well as 600 videos of child porn on Salling's laptop and thumb drives. Some of the contents featured children as young as three being sexually abused.
"Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed," U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement. "Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed, and every time it is viewed," Decker added.
According to the US Attorney's office, it will take at least three months before the actor is sentenced.
