In October 2023, Agent Cortney Dugger received a request for assistance from Detective Dustin Arnold of the Rockwood Police Department regarding allegations of sexual exploitation of a minor. Detective Arnold and Agent Dugger met with the 16-year-old victim and their mother at the Rockwood Police Department. The victim and Sullivan met on Snapchat in May 2023. Sullivan told the victim he was eighteen or nineteen years old. The relationship was described as casual until Sullivan began sending the victim nude photos. Sullivan solicited photographs from the victim.

Sullivan would send the victim gifts and foster a relationship with the victim. Sullivan came to Rockwood to visit the victim, have sex with the victim, and video the two of them having sex.

Agent Dugger, Investigator Chanel Finnell, and Detective Arnold traveled to Nashville on October 12, 2023, to contact Sullivan. Once they contacted Sullivan at his place of employment regarding the allegations, Sullivan ultimately confessed to the crimes and showed investigators where the child pornography was located on his phone.

The Roane County Grand Jury returned indictments on October 16, 2023, for fifty-one counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of statutory rape.

Sullivan pled guilty to especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor a B felony with a possible sentence of 8 – 12 years at 100% and two counts of statutory rape an E felony with a possible sentence of 1 – 2 years on March 4, 2024.

On March 15, 2024, Sullivan was sentenced to a negotiated sentence of twelve years to serve at 100% in the Tennessee Department of Corrections on especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and three consecutive years on state probation to statutory rape for a total effective sentence of fifteen years.

ADA Jason Collver prosecuted this case with the assistance of the Ninth Judicial District ICAC Unit and Detective Dustin Arnold.

Sullivan was represented by Knoxville defense attorney Greg Isaacs.