Retired Air Force brigadier general charged with possession of child pornography

A retired brigadier general living in the Mechanicsburg area was charged with 15 felony counts of possession of child pornography, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.

Retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Frank Sullivan was charged after a search of his home turned up computers with thousands of searches for “preteen” images, as well as pictures of children “engaged in very graphic sexual acts,” according to state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Sullivan is the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Military Community Enhancement Commission and is a veteran with tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was arrested Wednesday in Cumberland County and charged with child pornography, as well as one count of criminal use of a communication facility after the images were found on his home desktop and laptop, Shapiro said.

“Gen. 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,” Shapiro said in a news release. “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.”

Attorney general agents discovered Sullivan's interest in the images during an investigation on a file sharing network. In October, a search of Sullivan's home on Tunbridge Lane in Hampden Township revealed a desktop and laptop with images. In addition to finding the child pornography, Shapiro said a computer forensics analysis identified 37 search terms commonly used by people who look for child pornography.

In October, the Attorney General Child Predator Unit also arrested one of Sullivan's tenants, Bobby Glenn Williams Jr., and charged him with 14 felony counts of disseminating photos of child sex acts, 11 counts of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.

Williams was renting a room in Sullivan's home.

Sullivan was arraigned Wednesday in front of Magisterial District Judge Kathy Silcox, who set bail at $100,000 unsecured. The charges were waived to higher court during a preliminary hearing, also on Wednesday. A formal arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 23, 2020.

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