Mark Salling has been famous for years, known to millions of fans as the good hearted bad boy Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the well loved show Glee. According to news releases from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Salling is now famous for something far less endearing than feel-good singing performances and high school drama – child pornography.
Salling, a resident of Los Angeles, was arrested in December of 2015 on kiddie porn charges. At that time, the charges were by the state. However since then, the federal government has stepped in and Salling is now facing federal charges for the possession and distribution of child pornography.
According to the federal indictment, Salling is accused of downloading or possessing both still images and videos containing child porn. The indictment also reveals that the subjects of the images are young girls, although it does not provide an age category for the alleged victims.
Media sources say that while the initial arrest was made by the Los Angeles Police Department, after finding “thousands” of child sexually abusive images, the case was passed on to the feds. The images were allegedly discovered by investigators on Salling’s laptop, on a hard drive and also on a flash drive that was removed from his home.
Glee’s popular “Puck” is accused of having thousands of child porn pictures.
U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker made a statement to the press in which she explained that “Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed.” She went on to say that “Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed, and every time it is viewed.”
Salling was granted a $20,000 bond which he has already posted. He has agreed to voluntarily surrender himself on June 3, 2016 at which time he will likely be arraigned in the United States District Court on the federal kiddie porn charges. Salling will initially be charged with one count each of receiving child pornography and possessing child pornography. Both charges are felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Although Salling is not a resident of the state of Michigan, the seriousness of these kinds of charges is no different here in the Mitten State. Police and prosecutors, whether they are local, state or federal, take child pornography charges very seriously. Penalties can be as serious as spending decades in prison.
If you have been charged with a sex crime, whether it relates to child pornography or not, we can help you. The experienced criminal defense attorneys at Kronzek & Cronkright have considerable experience in defending those accused of kiddie porn as well as other sex crimes. These are hugely complex cases that should be handled only by attorneys with extensive experience with them. The attorneys at the Kronzek firm can be reached 24/7 at 1 -866-766-5245.