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Mark Salling indicted on child porn charges

Former Glee star faces 5 - 20 years prison if he is found guilty of child porn charges.

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Former Glee star Mark Salling has been indicted for charges of possessing child pornography.

Salling, 33, was arrested in December after allegedly receiving a photo and a video online depicting child pornography online.

The laptop, a hard drive and a USB flash drive seized from his California home contained thousands of images and videos depicting child porn, according to investigators. He was released on $20,000 bail after being arrested by the Los Angeles Police but the case was referred to federal authorities once investigators realised the scope of the material.

After being indicted on Friday, Salling will surrender to authorities and be arraigned on June 3.

If convicted of receiving child porn, Salling faces a minimum jail sentence of 5 years and a maximum one of 20 years. On the charge of possessing child porn, he could receive 20 years.

“Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed,” US 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.

“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 of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security investigations, in a statement.

In 2015 Salling’s then-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela sued him in 2015 for sexual battery after she claimed he shoved her and later forced her to have sex without a condom. Salling filed a countersuit for defamation of character. The case was later settled out of court.

Salling played bad-boy Noah “Puck” Puckerman on Glee from 2009 to 2015. He visited Australia in 2009 during a Glee promotional tour.

Source: Variety