Glee star Mark Salling, 35, ‘commits suicide’ as he awaits sentencing on child pornography charges

THE Glee star’s body was found on Tuesday in the Los Angeles River near Sunland where he had a home. He was 35 at the time of his death.

Salling was awaiting sentencing after entering a guilty plea to possession of child pornography.

The actor had already made a suicide attempt last summer, when he cut both of his wrists, according to a report.

Salling is said to have ‘freaked out’ after hurting himself on August 22.

He is thought to have been taken to hospital after paramedics treated him in his Los Angeles home. According to TMZ, he had screamed for his roommate after cutting his wrists.  The roommate then called 911 and helped him.

The actor was reportedly taken to be treated for psychological problems after he recovered.

Salling ‘downloaded thousands of images of child pornography’ between April and December 2015. The papers state he used software to mask his IP address, but twice showed some of his collection to an adult woman, who ultimately reported him to police.

Following the tip-off, Salling was arrested at his home in Sunland, California, where police found a cache of explicit images on his computer depicting children as young as 10 in sexual situations. They later discovered more than 50,000 photos and videos on his laptop and another 4,000 on a flash drive.

The actor was originally facing a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars after being charged with two counts of child pornography last year.

Salling took a plea deal in December, where he pleaded guilty to possessing images of prepubescent children between the ages of three and five. Prosecutors in response agreed to ask the judge to sentence him to between four and seven years in jail.

At the time of the hearing, he told the judge he was on medication for depression.

The 35-year-old would also have been required to register as a sex offender, pay restitution and abide by residency restrictions.

That would have meant he was banned from coming within 100 feet of schoolyards, parks, public swimming pools, playgrounds and video arcade venues; and cannot speak to children under the age of 18 without their parents or guardians present.

Authorities were reportedly tipped off by one of Salling’s ex-girlfriends and he was arrested in December 2015 before being released on $20,000 bail.

Lieutenant Andrea Grossman, commander of the LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said at the time: ‘It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do if you hurt a child you will be held accountable.’

She added: ‘These images are more than photographs, they are child abuse.’

Salling was previously sued by his ex-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela for sexual battery.

Gorzela claimed that he forced her to have unprotected sex with him and later, when she confronted him over his actions, Salling allegedly pushed her to the ground and caused injury to her knees.