Mark Salling: Glee actor's suicide may mean victims won't receive $50,000 compensation
The actor had been found guilty of possessing over 50,000 images of child sex abuse
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Your support makes all the difference.The death of Glee star Mark Salling may prevent his young victims from receiving the compensation he was due to pay out, it's been reported.
Salling, 35, died by suicide on Tuesday morning (30 January) after being found guilty of possessing over 50,000 images of child sex abuse.
The actor, who played Noah 'Puck' Puckerman in the hit series - accepted a plea deal in December 2017 and was due to be sentenced next month.
According to TMZ, Salling - as well as being handed a reduced prison sentence - agreed to pay restitution of approximately $50,000 to any victim who came forward.
However, his death by suicide has seen the deal fall through as the actor was required to be sentenced by a judge before making the payments.
To receive the owed compensation, victims will be forced to sue Salling's estate, the fortune of which he secured during his time on Glee through a business reported to be worth $1.97m (£1.38).
It is believed the victims were so young they may be unaware they were featured in the photographs possessed by Salling.
Salling, who was last seen outside court in December 2017, pleaded guilty to paedophilia last year and was expected to be sentenced to between four and seven years in prison this March. He would have also been required to register as a sex offender.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, the actor's lawyer, Michael J. Proctor said: “I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early this morning... 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.
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“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 statement added.
His stash of child pornography was discovered on his laptop, a harddrive, and a USB. Salling had reportedly shown some of the images to a girlfriend, who had shown them to police.
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