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Judge Sets Date In ‘Glee’ Star Mark Salling Child Pornography Trial Two Years After Arrest

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 05:43 PST, Jun 15, 2017

It has been nearly two years since the star of Glee, Mark Salling, was arrested for child pornography, and a federal judge has finally selected a date for the trial to begin. Salling, 34, had his Los Angeles area home raided by a special division of the LAPD based on a tip that Salling possessed an enormous amount of images and videos of children involved in sex acts. For some time, Salling and his legal team tried to negotiate a settlement with federal prosecutors, but talks allegedly broke down over the idea of time behind bars. Since his initial arrest, Mark Salling has had an ankle monitor, and he is not allowed in places where children gather, such as schools and parks.

The case of the United States v. Mark Wayne Salling has been marked by a number of postponements and status hearings. The charges against Salling were originally on the state level, but the sheer volume of images of children under the age of 12 involved in sex acts made it a federal crime. The last status meeting that was to take place in January was vacated when there was nothing new to discuss, and the two sides had not reached an agreement. Mark Salling, who starred on the popular show Glee for years, has not worked since his arrest.

On September 12th, Glee star Mark Salling and his legal team will finally appear in Los Angeles federal court to answer charges of possessing child pornography. Salling’s legal team was supposed to be in court for trial on May 3oth, but they asked for an extension for “analysis of evidence,” which the judge granted.

The case against Mark Salling includes 100,000 pages of “damning evidence” that was seized from his computer, cell phone, and an external hard drive. The victims depicted in the images and videos are said to be between the ages of five and twelve. Salling’s Glee co-star Naya Rivera recently commented on Salling’s arrest in her new memoir, saying that she was not shocked.

“When Mark dumped me, I thought it was the worst thing ever, but can you imagine if that didn’t happen? And I was laying there in bed when the battering ram came through the door?”

But, while those who know Mark Salling might not have been shocked by his arrest on child pornography charges, fans of Glee were thrown for as loop, but Salling is not the only celeb under investigation for possessing kiddie porn. Just this week, Youtube star Austin Jones, 24, was arrested on two charges of producing child pornography. Jones, who is best known for doing a cappella versions of popular songs on Youtube, was arrested for allegedly enticing two underage girls to perform in and send him pornographic movies of themselves. Because this was sent through the internet and across state lines, the case against Jones, like the case against Mark Salling, is federal.

Austin Jones was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and spent the night in jail until he was granted a bond hearing. The two girls, who are both 14 years old, sent Jones a total of forty videos per his request. Jones was arrested on two counts, and each count is punishable by up to fifteen years in prison.

[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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