“Glee” star Mark Salling was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday on child pornography possession charges, federal prosecutors said.
Salling, 33, was charged with receiving child pornography and possessing child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Salling played the role of Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the hit FOX television series "Glee."
Salling was arrested by Los Angeles police in December, but had not been charged federally. The federal indictment alleges that Salling downloaded or possessed a still image and videos depicting young girls.
"Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed,” U.S. 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 LAPD referred the matter to federal authorities after allegedly finding “thousands” of images of child pornography on a laptop, a hard drive and a flash drive taken from Salling’s home, prosecutors said. He is free on $20,000 bail.
A request for comment from Salling's attorney, Alan Eisner, was not immediately returned.
Salling through his attorney agreed to surrender June 3 and is expected to be arraigned then, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Each of the two charges carries up to 20 years in prison.