KALE / NIKO / AKM-GSIMark Salling's child pornography trial has been delayed.
After the former Glee actor was charged with receiving and possessing child pornography in late May, he was slated to begin the trial on July 12 before a judge took the date off the calendar Monday during a preliminary court hearing, the District Attorney's office confirmed to E! News. The decision was made after the court granted Salling's request for new attorney Michael Proctor.
The television star, who rose to fame as the musical series' football player Noah "Puck" Puckerman, pleaded not guilty to the federal criminal charges in early June after a grand jury handed down the two-count indictment, alleging he obtained and possessed pornographic photos and video depicting girls, some purportedly younger than 12 years old.
The charges arose from a search and seizure by the Los Angeles Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Unit at Salling's Sundland, Calif. home in late December. Among the items seized by authorities were a laptop, a hard drive, and a USB flash drive that the U.S. Attorney's Office's said "contained thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography."
After his arrest, Salling was released from prison after the judge mandated he pay $100,000, wear a location monitoring bracelet, not possess any device that has Internet access unless supervised or approved beforehand, not associate with anybody under the age of 18 and stay away from locations frequented by children.
If the celebrity is convicted of receiving child pornography, he could face a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars. If found guilty on both charges, he could face a 40-year prison sentence. A new trial date will be set during a preliminary hearing on Sept. 19, according to the magazine.