A federal grand jury has indicted “Glee”; actor Mark Salling for charges related to child pornography.
Salling’s laptop was seized last year, which allegedly contained thousands of images and videos of child porn. The indictment alleges that Salling used the Internet to receive a still image and video depicting child pornography on December 26, 2016 and a second count in the indictment charges the actor with possessing two similar videos on December 29, 2015.
As a result, the 33-year-old actor was named in a two-count indictment this afternoon for receiving and possessing child pornography and a flash memory drive.
“Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed,”; said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed and every time it is viewed.”;
Related: Report: Mark Salling’s Computer Contained Pornographic Images Of Children Under 10
“The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesn’t dovetail with reality. As our investigators can attest, the defendants in child pornography cases come in all ages and from all walks of life,”; said Joseph Macias, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Los Angeles. “While people are often surprised when high-profile individuals come under scrutiny in such investigations, we hope cases like this will raise awareness about law enforcement’s vigilance to combat the online sexual exploitation of children and hold those involved, regardless of their position, accountable for their actions.”;
The charge of receiving child pornography carries a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. While the charge of possessing child pornography carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
