UPDATE 06/4/16: Salling pleaded not guilty to two counts of receiving and possessing child pornography. Federal authorities will monitor his internet activity, and he must wear a location monitoring bracelet and submit to drug tests until his trial in July, Page Six reports.
UPDATE 05/27/16: Salling was charged Friday in a federal indictment with both receiving and possessing child pornography, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed," U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said. "Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed, and every time it is viewed."
For the alleged reception of child pornography, Salling faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a statutory maximum of 20. The possession charge also carries a statutory maximum of 20 years. The Glee star has agreed to surrender to federal officials on June 3 to face and be arraigned on the charges.
See original story from 12/29/15 below.
Former Glee star Mark Salling has been arrested for alleged possession of child pornography, Crime Watch Daily reports. The Los Angeles Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Unit reportedly served a search warrant early Tuesday morning at Salling's Sunland residence before taking the actor into custody.
Sources tell TMZ that an ex-girlfriend alerted local authorities, prompting a pre-raid investigation. After serving the warrant, officials searched Salling's and reportedly discovered "hundreds of images" of what sources describe to TMZ as "children . . . significantly younger than 15 or 16-year-olds."
Salling, who played Noah "Puck" Puckerman on Glee from 2009 to 2015, was previously at the center of a controversial sexual battery allegation back in 2013 in which he denied claims that he forced sexual intercourse on a woman "without a condom." That case was eventually settled.
This story is developing.
