No Prison For Two Rochester Men Convicted of Child Porn Charges

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Two Rochester men were sentenced Monday for child pornography convictions connected to unrelated cyber tips.

According to court records, 27-year-old Ryan Benjamin Thomas was charged a year ago after more than 150 files containing "obvious CSAM(child sexual abuse material) images and videos" were found at his phone after Rochester police executed a search warrant at his residence. The search was the result of an investigation that was launched in November 2021 after Rochester police received a cyber tip about suspected child sexual abuse materials being uploaded and sent using the Kik social media app.

The criminal complaint against Thomas says the tip, and a second tip received in July 2022, listed 44 videos of suspected child sexual abuse materials. The court document also states that investigators trace the IP address and phone number linked to the social media account to the man's Northwest Rochester residence.

The charges alleged that the files found on his phone depicted children ranging in age 5 to 10 years old.

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Thomas was charged with three felony counts of possession of child pornography. He entered into a plea agreement in October and admitted to one of the charges in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges.

He was sentenced today to 10 days in jail and was placed on probation for five years. The sentencing order includes a long list of conditions that include his registration as a predatory offender.

The criminal complaint filed against 30-year-old Gavin Wacker Sullivan in July followed an investigation into cyber tips received by Rochester police earlier this year. The court document says the information involved 18 videos and in image of suspected child sexual abuse material that had been uploaded to a social media site.

The charges indicated investigators obtained records from Google that were used to trace the social media account to Sullivan, which resulted in the execution of a search warrant at his home. The criminal complaint says police discovered dozens of videos and multiple images of alleged child sexual abuse material mainly involving young girls between the ages of 6 to 8 years old that have been uploaded to the social media account.

Investigators also reported the discovery of "many images consistent with child sexual abuse material," including images of children who appeared to be as young as four years old.

Sullivan earlier entered guilty pleas to two counts of possession of child pornography. He has now been sentenced to five years on probation with a stayed four-year prison.

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