Actor Mark Salling reportedly hanged himself. His body was discovered Tuesday morning.
Salling was best known for his portrayal of Noah “Puck Puckerman on the hit series Glee.
At the time of his death, Salling was waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Investigators found tens of thousands of obscene images on his computer.
“I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early this morning,” Salling’s family said in a statement.
“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 judgment. He is survived by his mother and father, and his brother. The Salling family appreciates the support they have been receiving and asks for their privacy to be respected.”
The troubled actor had made previous suicide attempts. After a self-harm incident last August, Salling was checked into a Los Angeles hospital.
He was facing a serious sentence. At minimum, the judge would have required him to register as a sex offender and pay restitution to his victims. He also would have been banned from coming within 100 feet of schools, parks, and places where children congregate.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, if you hurt a child you will be held accountable,” Lieutenant Andrea Grossman, commander of the LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said when news of Salling’s crimes first broke.
“These images are more than photographs, they are child abuse.”
When police combed through Salling’s computer after arresting him they found more than 50,000 sexually-explicit photos and videos of very young children.
Salling is the second former Glee star to die at a young age. Actor Cory Monteith, 31, was found dead in a hotel in 2013. The cause of death was determined to be an accidental overdose.
(Source: Daily Mail)