‘Glee’ star Mark Salling had videos of young girls on his laptop and flash drive, federal indictment says
‘Glee’ star Mark Salling was indicted Friday on charges that he downloaded and was in possession of child pornography on his Apple laptop computer, federal officials said.
The 33-year-old Shadow Hills resident was named in a two-count indictment, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. He is expected to surrender and be arraigned on the charges on June 3.
Salling, best known for playing Noah “Puck†Puckerman on the high school-based Fox series, received at least one illicit image and a pornographic video of young girls on Dec. 26 via the Web, according to the U.S. District Court indictment.
On Dec. 29, he also was in possession of a 16-gigabyte USB flash drive that contained two videos showing girls who were younger than 12, according to the indictment.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, if you hurt a child you will be held accountable,†Lt. Andrea Grossman of the LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force said in a statement. “These images are more than photographs, they are child abuse.â€
Salling was the subject of a Los Angeles Police Department investigation in December. He was arrested on state charges in connection with possessing child pornography. He was released on $20,000 bail.
Detectives with the LAPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force went to Salling’s home in the 9900 block of Helen Avenue in Shadow Hills in December, where they found thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography, Grossman said at the time.
Investigators seized his laptop, hard drive and the flash drive from his home. They are still reviewing evidence in that case.
Once LAPD detectives “realized the scope of the collection,†Salling’s case was referred to federal investigators, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
If convicted of the charges, Salling faces up to 20 years in federal prison, authorities said.
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