US Air Force Major Richard F. Gayson has been charged with nearly 130 counts related to child sexual abuse material, according to court records filed by the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office.
Allegations and Investigation
Gayson, from Fort Washington in Maryland, is alleged to have possessed more than 120 child abuse images and videos across several devices. Authorities first became aware of the suspected material in late 2025 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted police to 21 videos of child pornography allegedly uploaded to a cloud storage service.
Arrest and Court Proceedings
Detectives traced the videos to Gayson, who was interviewed in early 2026. Officers then seized laptops, phones, and external storage drives under a search warrant. Much of the material was allegedly found on a 64GB USB drive and two phones.
Gayson was arrested on May 6 and released on bail for home detention on July 10. He is next due in court on October 9.
Fort Washington is a small area of Maryland, roughly 20 miles south of central Washington DC.
