Former Glee star Mark Salling, who was awaiting sentencing on child pornography charges, was found dead of an apparent suicide.
According to TMZ, a family member went to the LAPD at 3 am on Tuesday to report Salling as a missing person. Police also received a call to do a "welfare check" on Salling and somehow was led to the baseball field where his body was found. Salling was found hanging from a tree near the little league field adjacent to a riverbed in Sunland, the area where he lived. He had reportedly been dead for some time.
Salling was scheduled to be sentenced in March after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography involving prepubescent minors. Prosecutors say he had over 50,000 images and hundreds of videos of underage children on his computers and flash drives. Salling was facing between 4-7 years in prison as part of his plea deal; he was originally facing a maximum of 20 years. He was also ordered to pay $50,000 to each victim requesting payment, a condition that could have cost him millions of dollars.
Back in August of last year, about a month and a half before his plea bargain, Salling had reportedly slit his wrists. He survived the apparent suicide attempt and was put in rehab for psychological issues, according to TMZ. Before the child porn charges, Salling was also accused of rape by a former girlfriend in 2016, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney decided not to pursue the case. The year before that, Salling paid another woman $2.7 million to settle a claim of sexual battery.
Salling was best-known for his role on the musical show Glee, playing the role of Noah "Puck" Puckerman from 2009-2015.
Source: complex.com
