HOLLYWOOD – Former Glee star Mark Salling, indicted earlier this year on possession of child pornography, was photographed Thursday with a fat check made out to the Clerk of Courts.
Salling is on trial in U.S. District Court.
Best known for his role in Glee as Noah Puckeman, Salling is seen in TMZ photographs clutching a cashier’s check for $100,000, made payable to the Clerk of the U.S. District Court.
Word was out this week that Salling has been cut from the mini-series Gods and Secrets. E! News confirmed with director Adi Shankar.
“He has been cut from the mini-series. I will personally be paying for the re-shoots, and I hope that Mark finds inner peace,” Shankar said. “Furthermore, a percentage of profits from the project will go to a charity for abused children,” he stated on Facebook. “The innocence of our planet’s children is something that must be protected at all costs.
As entertainers, our role is to be the ‘conscience of humanity.'”
The news of Salling being cut from the show came just days after he was named in a two-count indictment – one count for possession of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography. He was arrested in December 2015.
“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.”
Shankar had stated in December that he would not make a decision on whether to cut Salling from Gods and Secrets until he saw how the situation would play out.
Investigators seized a laptop, a hard drive and a USB flash drive from Salling’s home in December, CNN reported. Those items reportedly contained thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography.
“The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesn’t dovetail with reality,” said Joseph Macias, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations. “As our investigators can attest, the defendants in child pornography cases come in all ages and from all walks of life.”
The special agent said the case should serve as a warning that people involved in online sexual exploitation of children will be prosecuted regardless of their position.
