A 33-year-old Blaine man remains in jail after being charged with 10 counts of dealing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and one count of possessing it. He is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail or $25,000 cash.
Thomas Ryan Sullivan, 33, was arrested on May 14, nearly a year after a friend of Sullivan’s reported him possessing extensive CSAM on digital storage devices. The affidavit of probable cause (APC) filed in Whatcom County Superior Court shows the storage devices believed to belong to Sullivan contained 3,531 images and 173 videos that met Washington state law’s definition of sexually explicit conduct. In addition, over 700 images or videos were classified as “child exploitive,” meaning the person’s age could not be determined or the person was displayed provocatively, but the media was not inherently illegal, according to the APC. Court records also state over 50,000 images and/or videos contained computer-generated or animated CSAM.
On April 18, 2024, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) responded to a call from someone who reported their friend, Sullivan, had dropped off a flash drive containing CSAM and two hard drives at their Bellingham residence earlier that day.
The friend reported it was common for the two to share hard drives with video games and media. According to the affidavit, Sullivan told the friend that two hard drives contained TV shows and movies, and a flash drive had pornography. After Sullivan had left the residence, the friend opened the flash drive on his computer and found the CSAM.
On May 16, 2024, a WCSO detective dropped off the three digital storage devices to the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations office for digital forensic processing, which was completed a few days later on May 22. On May 28, 2024, the detective interviewed the friend.
Nearly a year later, on May 8, Whatcom County Superior Court granted a search warrant for Sullivan’s Blaine home, and it was executed May 14.
Sullivan said he had encountered CSAM previously, but wasn’t specific on when, and said there was a “moderate” chance the drives contained CSAM. Investigators found there was recent access to CSAM on Sullivan’s computer, according to court records.
Sullivan was arrested and booked into Whatcom County Jail on May 14. During his pretrial appearance on May 15, the court approved the state’s motion for Sullivan to not have contact with anyone under the age of 18. His arraignment was held May 23.
Anonymous tips of child sexual abuse material can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s tip line at cybertipline.com and to the FBI online at tips.fbi.gov.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has resources available for child sexual exploitation survivors and their families at bit.ly/4anORly. The center also operates a 24-hour hotline at 800-843-5678.
Stop It Now! operates a child sexual abuse helpline at stopitnow.org and 888/PREVENT.
Brigid Collins Family Support Center, a Bellingham-based nonprofit working to end child abuse, can be reached at 360/734-4616 and brigidcollins.org.
Lummi Victims of Crime has a 24-hour helpline to support both children and adults at 360/312-2015.
