Former ‘Glee’ star Mark Salling is believed to have entered a plea deal regarding his upcoming trial over possession of child pornography.

Just two weeks before his criminal trial, court documents filed on Tuesday (October 3rd) and obtained by E! News and other news outlets indicate that the 35 year old actor is agreeing to serve between four and seven years in prison for possessing thousands of indecent images of prepubescent minors on his personal computer.

Salling, who was arrested back in December 2015, is pleading guilty to this in order to avoid the potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Mark SallingMark Salling is attempting a plea bargain over his child pornography charges

The plea deal admits that, between April that year and the time of his arrest, Salling went online at his L.A. home and downloaded thousands of pornographic images of minors.

“Defendant attempted to conceal his activity by using software that masked his IP address,” the plea agreement states. “However, on at least two occasions in 2015, defendant showed his child pornography to an adult woman in the context of their sexual relationship. This was ultimately reported to law enforcement.”

He also won’t be able to live “within direct view of school yards, parks, public swimming pools, playgrounds, youth centers, video arcade facilities or other places primarily used by persons under the age of 18.” If accepted by the judge at sentencing, he will also pay $50,000 in restitution to every victim who requests it.

However, the court has not yet set a date for Salling to change his plea to guilty, and his criminal trial is scheduled to begin on October 17th.

“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 in May last year when Salling was officially charged with federal offences. “Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed, and every time it is viewed.”

Salling is best known for his recurring role on ‘Glee’ from 2009 to 2015, where he played Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman. He was fired from his prospective series ‘Gods and Secrets’ when charges were made last year.

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