ACTON : Plea Entered in Molestation Case

An Acton man who allegedly spent years sexually molesting and photographing three children--two boys and a girl--faces a 16-year state prison sentence after pleading no contest to one of six felony charges.

Walter E. Sullivan Jr., 43, who authorities said works in the construction industry, entered the plea Monday in Lancaster Superior Court to one count of continuous sexual abuse of a young male neighbor. Sullivan is scheduled to be sentenced to 16 years on April 5. The other charges then would be dismissed.

Detective Mitch Loman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department child exploitation team said the alleged abuse generally began when the victims were of pre-elementary school age and continued into their teen-age years. Loman said deputies seized nude photographs at Sullivan’s house of all three youngsters.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Ogden, the prosecutor, called it “exceedingly unusual” to have both male and female victims in the same molestation case. A boy, now age 14, and the young male neighbor and a girl, both 17, have been placed in protective custody, officials said.

Loman said authorities learned of the allegations when the young neighbor told a guardian that Sullivan had been molesting him. The guardian then contacted sheriff’s deputies, who arrested Sullivan on Feb. 4. Deputies said Sullivan had a prior conviction for sexual battery in the mid-1980s.