David Frodsham was a top civilian commander at a U.S. air base in Afghanistan. Frodsham told one woman that he hired her because he “wanted to be surrounded by pretty women,” and routinely called others “honey,” “babe,” and “cougar” before he was ordered home after the military verified several allegations of sexual harassment. When Frodsham returned to his home station in 2015, he rejoined the Network Enterprise Technology Command, the Army’s information technology service provider, where he had served as director of personnel for a global command of 15,000 soldiers and civilians. By spring of the following year, he was arrested in Arizona for leading a child sex abuse ring that included an Army sergeant who posted child porn to the internet, the Associated Press reports. Among the victims was one of Frodsham’s adopted sons.
Frodsham pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges in 2016 and is serving a 17-year sentence. Records show that the U.S. Army and the state of Arizona missed or ignored multiple red flags over more than a decade, which allowed Frodsham to allegedly abuse his adopted son and other children for years, all the while putting national security at risk. The state permitted Frodsham and his wife, Barbara, to foster, adopt and retain custody of their many children despite nearly 20 complaints, and attempted complaints, of abuse, neglect, maltreatment and licensing violations. The Army gave Frodsham security clearances and sensitive jobs at a time when his illicit sexual practices made him vulnerable to blackmail. “He would have been an obvious target of foreign intelligence services because of his role and his location,” said Frank Figliuzzi, former assistant director of counterintelligence for the FBI. “Fort Huachuca is one of the more sensitive installations in the continental United States. People with security issues should not be there.”