Dec. 9—ROCHESTER — A Rochester man accused of possessing and disseminating child sexual abuse material received a stay of imposition at his sentencing hearing Monday afternoon, Dec. 9.
Gavin Wacker Sullivan, 30, was originally charged with one count of disseminating child sexual abuse material and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Sullivan pleaded guilty in October to two counts of possession of child sexual abuse material after the dissemination charge was amended, according to the guilty plea petition.
During the sentencing hearing, the state argued a stay of imposition on two 24-month sentences with no jail time.
Sullivan’s defense attorney Dan McIntosh said the psychosexual evaluation did not indicate that Sullivan was a risk.
Sullivan apologized in court. He said he will be “making sure that this court — and any other court — never sees [him] again.”
Olmsted County District Court Judge Erin Lindhart Felten gave Sullivan a four-year stay of imposition with conditions, including sex offender education and treatment, no contact with minors unless approved, not going in areas where children congregate, using internet monitoring software and no using or purchasing sexually explicit material. Sullivan will also be required to register as a predatory offender. He did not receive a jail sanction.
According to the criminal complaint, the Rochester Police Department received a cybertip in July relating to 19 files of child sexual abuse material that were uploaded to Kik in March. Officers traced an IP address to a southwest Rochester address.
After executing a warrant with Kik, RPD noted that Sullivan sent a selfie-style photo of himself in the messages. There were 31 videos of CSAM and four images of CSAM, the complaint said.
On July 11, 2024, a search warrant was executed at Sullivan’s home. When Sullivan answered, he attempted to flee back into the residence.
According to the complaint, officers discovered after searching his computers that many files with CSAM had children as young as 4 years old engaging in sexual acts.