Fame Doesn’t Keep You Safe
Actor Mark Salling has died young.
Actor Mark Salling was found yesterday, after being reported missing to local police, hanging in the riverbed area of Tujunga-Sunland neighborhood of Los Angeles. His death is rumored to be a suicide, however, the coroner’s report is not available yet.
In December 2017, Salling reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in his federal child pornography case. He admitted he possessed images of pre-pubescent children. The warrant stated that there were over 50,000 images of child pornography on Salling’s computer and a thumb drive.
He was awaiting sentencing, set for March 2018, where he stood to spend 4–7 years in federal prison.
I have no issue admitting, my first reaction to the news on my bing home page was sadness. I loved Salling’s character on Glee. (Yep, I’m a gleek). He was the quintessential bad-boy, trying to change, but afraid of being outed as something other than a bad ass.
As I’ve read more this morning, my emotions flew all over the place. I knew he had been accused of possession of child pornography, but I don’t make it a habit to follow celebrity news, so I had not learned of the conviction.
I’m still saddened by this. His horrific choices as a human being do not take away from what I feel were his skills as an actor. It just made him a fucked up person. And a small cog in the larger machine that needs to be shut down, for good.
Obviously I can not confirm where the images that Salling possessed originated. I do know, however, that most child pornography stems from human trafficking victims being exploited.
This is another case that goes to show that human trafficking is a major problem in the United States. People have this idea that “it can’t happen here”, or it “doesn’t happen here”. This head-in-the-sand mentality is part of the problem. It does happen here.
The town one over from my hometown is a huge tourist attraction area due to a number of films being made there. Three individuals are under investigation for human trafficking/child pornography. I have been told by my source in an agency involved with this investigation that this area is a hot-bed of activity of this nature.
This is a sleepy beach town, locals have lived here for generations, and tens of thousands of people bring their families here every summer.
In many situations, with older victims (teens), this is the perfect place to begin grooming. Young ladies, on the beach with their friends, parents usually not around, and someone approaches them in a friendly manner. Teenage girls gossip, I know, I was one. Everyone is hanging out, having a good time, and someone begins to complain about their home life. This is their IN. A perceived “rough” home life is something predators want to hear. It’s their opening to groom.
“Well, if you ever get tired of it all, I have connections in the modeling industry/acting industry/etc. You’re so beautiful, you’ll get work immediately. I’ll make sure you have a place of your own, clothes, make-up, etc.”
Of course, this is not the real deal. The real deal generally involves getting the victims addicted to drugs, setting them up in a motel, and putting their information on websites such as Craigslist or Backpage and turning them into prostitutes. Pictures are taken, most likely distributed on pornographic sites. The girls are always “18”, whether they are or not. They have to “earn their keep”, right?
Abuse is prevalent, beyond the sexual abuse they are being subjected to, depending on the area they are set up in, as many as 10–15 times per day. Get mouthy? A beating. Try to leave? A beating.
Of course, there are cases of men, women, and children being transported into the United States for human trafficking purposes, but if you think this is the only way it happens, you need to open your eyes. Check the web for runaway statistics. Chances are, most of those young girls have been picked up by someone who promised them the world and delivered a world full of hell.
It can and does happen here, and as hard as law enforcement is trying to get a handle on the situation, it continues to escalate. Gangs especially are moving to human trafficking over drugs. Drugs disappear once sold, but a person can be sold over and over again. They are almost pure profit.
Mark Salling committed suicide, in my opinion, like quite a few others before him, because he knew what likely awaited him behind bars. Child molesters and people convicted of possessing child pornography are one of the most hated types of inmates, by other inmates. The likelihood of him actually making it out of prison alive were pretty low. Rather than serve the time to be assigned to him, enter into therapy, and attempt to rehabilitate himself, he took his life because he feared prison more.
Human trafficking, child pornography, sexual misconduct, all of these things and anything related to them ruin the lives of the victims and those who participate in the activities.
Something more needs to be done, I just wish I knew what that was.
