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A28 u.s. news
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Civilian Army leader led child porn ring, risked US security

become foster parents, Bar- sex with small children and representing the Frodsham
bara Frodsham indicated that that Frodsham had supplied brothers and Neal Taylor,
neither she nor her husband him with at least one of the wonders whether child sex
had been sexually victimized. “little ones.” abuse in southern Arizona
But in recent pretrial testi- is on the rise. “Law enforce-
mony for Ryan Frodsham’s Thomas Ransford, who spe- ment has been very effective,
lawsuit, she said she would cializes in child sex abuse cas- and I appreciate their efforts,
have revealed her abuse if es for the Sierra Vista police, but I’ve been taking these
she had been asked by a state was no stranger to Frodsham. cases for 30 years and I’ve
investigator as part of the li- In the mid-2000s, he served never been so busy,” she said.
censing process. as a military police officer at The physical and sexual
Fort Huachuca when Frod- abuse allegedly endured by
Many child welfare experts sham was director of Train- the Frodsham brothers and
believe people with a his- ing, Plans, Mobilization and Neal Taylor occurred at a
tory of child sexual abuse are Security. “So, I knew him. I time when Arizona’s child
more likely to abuse children was familiar with him, at- welfare system was em-
in their own households and tended meetings with him,” broiled in scandal. In 2013,
should be questioned to en- Ransford recalled. He also officials revealed that what
sure they’ve overcome their knew that Frodsham’s foster was then the Department
trauma before being allowed kids were always in trouble. of Protective Services had a
to provide foster care. backlog of more than 6,500
When Ransford first ques- abuse and neglect complaints
Arizona’s child welfare case tioned Frodsham he denied it had never investigated.
workers “did not know how everything. “He was pomp-
to interview and, therefore, ous, like he was the smart- The revelation prompted
they didn’t get candid an- est guy in the room,” Rans- then-Gov. Jan Brewer to dis-
swers from the Frodshams,” ford recalled. Then Ransford solve the entire department
said Kathleen Faller, an ex- played the video Bischak had and create a new Cabinet-
pert witness retained in Ryan secretly taken of himself hav- level office called the Depart-
Frodsham’s lawsuit. In pre- ing three-way sex with Frod- ment of Child Safety. “It is
trial testimony, Faller also sham and his adopted son, evident that our child welfare
(AP) - The complaints reason for his call over the said the state should not have Ryan, and Frodsham began system is broken, impeded by
began in 2002, when the phone, because he would granted the Frodshams’ fos- to acknowledge his crimes. years of operational failures,”
Frodshams applied for have had to drive 90 minutes ter care license. said Brewer, a Republican.
their foster care license, from Tucson to Sierra Vista Ryan Frodsham also initially
and continued until 2015, for a private meeting. The Frodsham case started as denied his father had abused Underlying the scandal were
when David Frodsham child sex abuse investigations him. “Ryan appeared very de- deep budget cuts to fam-
was charged with disor- Ryan Frodsham’s lawsuit often do: with an undercover fensive of his father and did ily support services, leading
derly conduct and driving and the related legal filings Homeland Security agent not want to implicate him in to soaring abuse and neglect
drunk with children in his say he reported repeated al- lurking in a chat room favored any misconduct,” Ransford complaints and what an au-
car, prompting the state leged physical abuse by Bar- by child pornographers. The wrote in a probable cause ditor general’s report would
to suspend their license bara Frodsham to Sierra Vista Philadelphia-based agent, us- statement. later refer to as “unmanage-
indefinitely and remove police when he was 12 years ing the Kik messaging app, able workloads, staff turnover
all foster children from old after running away from ran into someone calling But when Ransford showed and the limited experience of
their home, although the home. Police photographed himself “Pup Brass” who was him a compromising photo- some CPS supervisors and
charges were later dis- several bruises, returned him posting videos and photos la- graph seized from Bischak’s newly hired investigators.”
missed. to Barbara Frodsham, and beled “pedopicsandvidd.” cell phone, Ryan began to
reported the incident to the open up. Over the course In its defense against Ryan
Five months later, the Army state Department of Child Kik offers users a degree of of several months, Ransford Frodsham’s lawsuit, the
deployed Frodsham to Af- Safety. Despite the photo- anonymity but it stores IP ad- said, Ryan identified others state is trying to exclude any
ghanistan, where he was or- graphs and a police report, dresses, which help identify he said were part of his fa- mention of the department’s
dered back to Arizona after a case worker who met with a device’s connection to the ther’s child sex abuse ring, troubled past. “There is no
only four months of service. Ryan five weeks later found internet and can help identify fueling the continuing inves- evidence that the types of
his allegations “unsubstanti- the device’s owner. Accord- tigation. problems that led to the dis-
The lawsuits say the Frod- ated.” ing to a Sierra Vista police solution of CPS has any rela-
shams’ adopted children at- probable cause statement, The Frodsham child sex tion to or impact on his case,”
tempted to report their own Arizona Department of federal and local law enforce- abuse ring is part of a clus- the state said in a pretrial mo-
physical and sexual abuse Child Safety spokesman Dar- ment agents using the IP ad- ter of sex abuse cases that tion.
without success. ren DaRonco declined to an- dress and other information have come to light in Co-
swer specific questions about — some gleaned from social chise County, Arizona, over But David and Barbara Frod-
For instance, Neal Taylor’s the lawsuits. He instead sent media accounts — soon de- the last several years, includ- sham were licensed as foster
lawsuit says he attempted to an email outlining the state’s termined that “Pup Brass” ing several involving U.S. parents in 2002, at the dawn
report that David Frodsham procedures for screening was Sgt. Randall Bischak. Border Patrol agents, two of of what was perhaps the de-
was sexually abusing him in prospective foster and adop- whom worked at the Naco, partment’s most troubled
two phone calls to his case tive parents. “Despite all of When they raided his home, Arizona, Border Crossing. period, and formally adopted
manager, both of which he these safeguards, people are seizing computers, cell Among them: the three men going to court
placed from school. sometimes able to avoid de- phones, tablets and CDs Ransford believes the cluster about a decade later, shortly
tection,” DaRonco said, “es- holding child pornogra- of cases should be attributed before the system collapsed.
The first time, the case man- pecially if a person has no phy, Bischak confessed that to good police work and ef- “The jury is entitled to the
ager reported the call to prior criminal or child abuse he’d been having sex with a fective prosecution, which full picture,” lawyers for
Neal’s adoptive mother, who history.” 59-year-old man he called give victims and others the Ryan Frodsham said.
“interrogated” him and “pro- “Dave” and his teenage confidence to report child sex
ceeded to punish” him, ac- Yet David and Barbara Frod- son. In at least one instance abuse. “People report because In his AP interview, Ryan
cording to his lawsuit. The sham have both said they Bischak had secretly record- they know something’s going Frodsham said he filed his
second time, the case man- were abused as minors. ed the sex on video. He also to be done about it,” he said. lawsuit for one reason: “I
ager refused to meet with told investigators that he and want the state to admit what
him unless he disclosed the In their written application to Frodsham discussed having But Cadigan, the attorney it did was wrong.”