Glee star Mark Salling pleads guilty to child porn charges
The actor is facing a lengthy spell behind bars.
By Will Stroude
Former Glee star Mark Salling has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
Salling, who is best known for portraying Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman on the FOX musical comedy series for six seasons between 2009-15, faces up to seven years in jail after striking a plea deal with investigators, People reports.
As part of the plea deal, the actor admitted to owning around 25,000 images and 600 videos depicting child pornography. The content depicted children as young as 3 years old being abused, according to court documents.
Salling must register as a sex offender, enter a treatment programme, and have his sentence followed by 20 years of supervised release. He must also pay $50,000 in compensation to each victim, according to the documents.
Salling, 35, was originally arrested and released on bail in Los Angeles in December 2015 after a laptop, a hard drive and a USB flash drive were seized from his home.
Thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography were found on the devices seized during the raid on the star’s address, which reportedly came following a tip-off to authorities from a former partner.
Salling’s attorney Michael Proctor said in a statement to People: “Mark is focused on accepting responsibility and attempting to atone for his conduct”.
Salling will be sentenced on 7 March 2018.