Many people knew the late actor Mark Salling for his role as Noah “Puck” Tuckerman on FOX’s hit TV show “Glee.” Towards the end of his life, many remembered him for being suspected of possessing child pornography.
The 35-year-old actor passed away the morning of Jan. 30, 2018.
“I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early this morning,” attorney Michael Proctor said in a statement to CNN. “Mark was a gentle and loving person, a person of great creativity, who was doing his best to atone for some serious mistakes and errors of judgement.”
It was originally suspected that his death might have been a suicide. A few weeks after his passing, his death certificate confirmed the cause was asphyxiation by hanging.
“Mark Salling’s death was definitely surprising. I could never imagine how he got to that point where he decided to take his life. It’s really unfortunate,” sophomore education major Olivia Schiffert said.
In 2016, Salling was indicted for the possession and receiving of child pornography. There were several devices and flash drives found in his home that contained thousands of photos and videos showing child pornography.
The United States Department of Justice wrote in a statement about Salling: “Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed. Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed and every time it is viewed.”
Thorn, an international anti-human trafficking organization, works to combat the sexual exploitation of children, including addressing child pornography. Thorn’s website states that 25 percent of the content is produced by someone the victim, knows such as a family friend, and 18 percent is produced by the victim’s own parents or guardians.
Salling was waiting for his sentencing at the time of his death. He would have been sentenced in this month.
He had pleaded guilty and could have gotten four to seven years in prison, and would have to be supervised for many years after his release.
“From an education major’s perspective, child pornography is absolutely disgusting and horrible. That is not just from an education major’s perspective, most people feel that way about child pornography,” Schiffert said.
