Mark Salling’s tragic suicide could have a significant impact on his child [expletive] case, Breaking Celebrity News has exclusively learned.

“When a defendant dies, we generally dismiss the case once we obtain the proper documentation,” U.S. Justice Department Spokesperson Thom Mrozek told Breaking Celebrity News when asked how Salling’s death could affect the case.

Mrozek also noted via text that “proper documentation” could include, “to start with, a death certificate.”

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.

Last year, Assistant US Attorney Joey Blanch said in court that Salling possessed a total of about 50,000 “sadistic” and “masochistic” images of child erotica altogether, 4,000 of which were found on his laptop.

As Breaking Celebrity News 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.

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.

“I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early today,” Salling’s lawyer,

Michael J. Proctor, told Breaking Celebrity News. “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.”

If you or someone you know is in an emotional distress or suicidal, please call the Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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