High School Musical 3‘s most notorious actor is becoming even more notorious.
Failed actor Matt Prokop was arrested a couple of years ago for domestic violence. This was not his first allegation.
Just weeks ago, the now 35-year-old man was arrested again.
He is now facing “child pornography” charges for allegedly possessing child sex-abuse material.
On December 24, authorities in Victoria, Texas arrested Prokop.
The former actor, who has not worked in the industry for over a decade, was arrested for violating bond conditions and for evading and resisting arrest. (We’ll explain that shortly)
On December 31, authorities added an additional charge: possession or promotion of child pornography.
He is now facing two felonies and four misdemeanor charges.
As of January 10 of 2026, he was still in custody at the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office Jail. His bail is set at $117,500.
We do not have many details on the case.
It is unclear whether authorities discovered the alleged child sexual abuse material (CSAM) upon his arrest, or if there was a separate investigation.
In May of 2024, authorities arrested Prokop for aggravated assault against his girlfriend. (Some reports say that this was assault with a deadly weapon)
This stemmed from a public incident in Victoria. (Anecdotally, when violence is taking place in public, it usually means that the abuse is so frequent in private that the abuser briefly forgot to hide their true nature)
This is the crime for which Prokop allegedly violated his bond conditions.
Matt Prokop (Sarah Hyland of Modern Family abusive ex) arrested for assault and CSAM. So unsurprising.
— AskAubry 🦝 🐆 (@askaubry.com) January 10, 2026 at 9:24 AM
[image or embed]
The 2024 arrest was not Prokop’s first time with accusations of domestic violence.
After leaving his hometown of Victoria for Los Angeles to pursue acting as a teenager, he dated Modern Family‘s Sarah Hyland for almost four years.
During that time, he participated in most of his acting projects — appearing on Modern Family and taking on a producer role in Hyland’s (who was more famous and successful) different jobs.
In August 2024, Hyland broke up with him — with one of her co-stars present to support her and for her safety — and filed a domestic violence restraining order.
The world soon heard horror stories about Prokop’s alleged abuse of Hyland throughout their relationship.
Prokop appeared in High School Musical 3.
Beyond that, he is best known for two things: for having dated Hyland, and for having allegedly abused her.
He has not worked in the entertainment industry since her allegations went public.
In fact, due to her (now permanent) restraining order, he did not attend the premiere of their final project together.
It looks like he has moved back to his hometown, having ruined a once-promising career. But his legal records do not seem to indicate that things have changed.
Are domestic violence and CSAM a surprising combo?
To many people, it may not seem intuitive to link crimes like possessing CSAM, for which he is now facing charges, and domestic violence.
Our society often teaches us to imagine one as being about a sick attraction and the other as being about anger.
The truth is that many people have desires that would be evil to act upon (not limited to CSA), and many people feel incredible anger — even at their loved ones.
It takes a lack of care about other people and their rights to make these feelings into someone else’s problem. It takes a lack of moral clarity for your desires, your impulses, to include a victim.
In that sense, no, it’s not a surprise that someone notorious for alleged domestic violence to face charges for alleged CSAM possession. These evils are like two peas in a pod.