CUMBERLAND COUNTY -- A retired U.S. Air Force general has been charged with more than a dozen counts of possession of child pornography after a search of his Mechanicsburg home, according to the office of state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
Brig. Gen. Frank Sullivan was arrested Wednesday, Shapiro said in a press release. He is 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 his home computer and laptop, Shapiro alleges.
A search of the computers uncovered thousands of search queries for "preteen" images, as well as pictures of children "engaged in very graphic sexual acts," Shapiro said in the announcement.
Sullivan is the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Military Community Enhancement Commission and a decorated veteran with tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“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 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 agents of his office discovered Sullivan’s alleged penchant for viewing images of preteen children during an investigation on a file sharing network.
In October, a search of Sullivan’s home revealed a desktop and a laptop that were filled with searches and images of preteen children, Shapiro said. 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, according to Shapiro.
Related to the charges against Sullivan, Shapiro’s Child Predator Unit arrested one of Sullivan'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 home, Shapiro said.
Sullivan was arrested and arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Kathryn Silcox. Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Jones will prosecute the case.
He is due in court January 23, 2020.