A high-ranking US Air Force major has been charged with nearly 130 counts of child sexual abuse material, according to reports.
Richard F. Gayson, from Fort Washington in Maryland, has been named in court records filed by the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office, reports Fox10 Baltimore.
Alleged possession of more than 120 files
It’s alleged Gayson was in possession of more than 120 child abuse images and videos on several devices.
Authorities were first made aware of the suspected material late in 2025 when America’s National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted police to 21 videos of child pornography that were allegedly uploaded to a cloud storage service.
Investigation and arrest
Detectives reportedly traced the videos back to Gayson. He was interviewed in early 2026.
Officers then seized several devices, including 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, the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office said.
Court proceedings
Gayson was arrested on May 6 and bailed for home detention on July 10. He is next due in court on October 9.
Fort Washington is a small area of Maryland. It is roughly 20 miles south of central Washington DC, the US capital city.
