Cleveland man sentenced to 20 years in prison after trying to film people showering at Geneva State Park

A Cleveland man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after he was arrested trying to film people showering at Geneva State Park, law enforcement officials said.

James D. Sullivan, 60, was found guilty of child pornography crimes.

Law enforcement received a complaint of someone attempting to record people while they were showering at the Geneva State Park’s campground restroom on July 18, 2015, according to court documents.

The restroom has drop ceilings. An Ohio State trooper found an ajar ceiling tile and entered the space, where he found a blanket, a bottle of lotion and bodily fluid on a ceiling tile. The bodily fluid was tested and was a DNA match for Sullivan, according to court documents.

A subsequent search of his Cleveland apartment revealed Sullivan had a Dell laptop computer containing nearly 100 images of children being sexually assaulted.

Sullivan was previously convicted of attempted rape, burglary and gross sexual imposition, according to court documents.

“This defendant has preyed upon people for years, whether abusing people here in Cleveland or trading in images of children being victimized,” U.S Attorney Justin E. Herdman said. “This prison sentence makes our community safer.”

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael A. Sullivan and Carol M. Skutnik following an investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Secret Service.