A retired Mesa police sergeant, Russell Dean Millsaps, age 69, was sentenced to 323 years in prison following his conviction on child exploitation charges stemming from a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Mesa Police Department.
Millsaps was sentenced July 1 by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Mikitish on multiple counts of child molestation, crimes against children, and sexual exploitation of a minor. The case against Millsaps was prosecuted by Rebecca Jones of the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County.
The probe targeting Millsaps began in 2013 after HSI special agents in New Orleans alerted local investigators about a Mesa man who responded to an internet advertisement soliciting images of children being sexually exploited. Further investigation resulted in the execution of a search warrant at Millsaps’ Mesa residence, where authorities seized hundreds of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children that he was sending over the internet.
On March 14, 2013, Millsaps was arrested and held without bond. Over the course of the investigation, authorities identified multiple minor victims.