Mark Salling’s tragic suicide could have a significant impact on his child porn case, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.<br /><br />“When a defendant dies, we generally dismiss the case once we obtain the proper documentation,” U.S. Justice Department Spokesperson Thom Mrozek told Radar when asked how Salling’s death could affect the case.<br /><br />Mrozek also noted via text that “proper documentation” could include, “to start with, a death certificate.”<br /><br />Salling was scheduled to be sentenced in March in the child pornography case and he was expected to get four to seven years in prison as part of a plea deal.<br /><br /> possessed a total of about 50,000 “sadistic” and “masochistic” images of child erotica altogether, 4,000 of which were found on his laptop.<br /><br />As Radar reported, authorities found Salling’s body hanging from a tree near a little league field on the morning of January 30, hours after police received a missing persons report for the actor.<br /><br />Six uniformed police officers were later seen carrying Salling's body out on a gurney and loading him into the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office van.<br /><br />“I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early today,” Salling’s lawyer,<br /><br />Michael J. Proctor, told Radar. “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.”<br /><br />If you or someone you know is in an emotional distress or suicidal, please call the Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK</a> (8255).<br /><br />We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at 800-344-9598 any time, day or night.
