HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro today charged retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Frank Sullivan with more than a dozen felony counts related to his possession of child pornography after a search of his Mechanicsburg home turned up computers replete with thousands of searches for “preteen” images, as well as pictures of children “engaged in very graphic sexual acts.”
Sullivan, the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Military Community Enhancement Commission and a decorated veteran with tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, was arrested today in Cumberland County and charged with 15 second degree felony counts of sexual abuse of children and one count of criminal use of a communication facility after investigators found images of child porn on a home desktop and laptop.
“General Sullivan’s alleged actions disgrace his work and besmirch the Pennsylvania National Guard, an organization that has bravely and dutifully come to the aid of Pennsylvanians whenever they have been called,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “I’ve said it time and time again—nobody is above the law. My Office will investigate and prosecute anyone who harms Pennsylvanians, no matter what positions of power they may hold.”
Shapiro said Office of Attorney General agents discovered Sullivan’s penchant for viewing images of preteen children during an investigation on a file sharing network. In October, a search of Sullivan’s Tunbridge Lane, Mechanicsburg, home revealed a desktop and a laptop that were filled with searches and images of preteen children. In addition to finding child pornography on the laptop, a computer forensic analysis identified 37 search terms commonly used by people looking for child pornography.
Related to the charges against Sullivan, Attorney General Shapiro’s Child Predator Unit arrested one of the accused’s tenants in October, Bobby Glenn Williams Jr., and charged him with 14 felony counts of disseminating photos of child sex acts, 11 felony counts of child pornography, and one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility. Williams was renting a room in Sullivan’s Mechanicsburg home.
Sullivan was arrested and arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Kathryn Silcox. Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Jones will prosecute the case. All charges discussed are accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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