Former Glee star Mark Salling pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on Monday, just a few months after first striking a plea deal with prosecutors in October. The 35-year-old actor, best known for his role as Noah 'Puck' Puckerman on the hit Fox musical series, may serve four to seven years in federal prison, instead of the maximum sentence of 20 years. Salling’s sentencing will be held in March.
“Mark is focused on accepting responsibility and attempting to atone for his conduct,” Salling’s attorney Michael Proctor told People in a statement.
A search warrant led investigators to uncover more than 25,000 images and videos of graphic child pornography on Salling’s computers and flash drives. Salling showed his collection of child pornography to a woman, who ultimately reported him to the police, according to The Blast. Court documents state that some of Salling’s appalling content included the abuse of children as young as 3 years old. Those documents also state that Salling must pay $50,000 in restitution fees to each victim that requests payment. The actor is to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 without a legal guardian present, and he must stay 100 feet away from locations young children frequent like schools and playgrounds.
Salling was a member of Glee’s cast from 2009 to 2015.
