A former south suburban police officer raped a teenage woman and paid her to create baby pornography whereas he was on bond for a pending baby pornography case, prosecutors stated. Prepare dinner County Sheriff’s Police arrested 40-year-old Tory Bridgeforth at his house on Wednesday, the day earlier than his trial on pending baby pornography costs was set to start.
Decide Luciano Panici, Sr., detained him on the brand new costs of prison sexual assault by power and solicitation of kid sexual abuse materials, in response to courtroom information.
The now-postponed trial includes an investigation that started in late 2022 after Yahoo! submitted a tip to the Nationwide Heart for Lacking and Exploited Kids about suspected baby pornography the corporate detected on its servers. Investigators linked Bridgeforth to the supplies as a result of he emailed them to himself through his personal Yahoo! account, an account he later admitted he had sole entry to, in response to prosecutors.
A forensic examination of one in every of three telephones seized on the time of his arrest revealed roughly 19 movies and 15 photographs depicting baby victims, together with some who have been sexually assaulted, prosecutors alleged.
Bridgeforth was employed as a Robbins police officer when he transmitted the kid pornography, prosecutors stated throughout his 2023 bond listening to. In addition they famous that in July 2019, whereas working as a Robbins police sergeant, Bridgeforth made contact with three juveniles throughout a name — a 12-year-old and two 13-year-olds. He picked them up the following day, purchased meals, bought medicine, took them to a vacant house, and gave them juice, edibles, alcohol, and hashish earlier than taking them house, the prosecutor stated. All three juveniles gave forensic interviews describing the incident, however no prison costs have been ever filed.
Bridgeforth’s protection legal professional in the course of the bond listening to claimed the kid pornography scenario was a “misunderstanding” and that Bridgeforth was the one who had been reporting the supplies.
Prosecutors pushed again, noting that Bridgeforth refused to supply a passcode to a second cellphone, telling investigators it contained movies of a 12-year-old relative engaged in sexual acts with a male family member.
Decide Susana Ortiz didn’t purchase the protection clarification, both. She set bail at $1 million and ordered him onto digital monitoring ought to he pay the ten% deposit bond.
However barely a month later, Decide Patrick Coughlin diminished bail to $500,000, permitting Bridgeforth to go house on an ankle monitor by posting a $50,000 deposit. By Might 2024, Coughlin had eliminated all digital monitoring necessities, courtroom information present.
In a brand new set of allegations filed this week, prosecutors accuse Bridgeforth of sexually assaulting a lady and paying her to create baby sexual abuse materials whereas he was on bail.
In keeping with a detention submitting, Prepare dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace investigators have been assigned on February 26 to look into a brand new CyberTip from a member of the general public who reported {that a} 16-year-old woman was having intercourse with Bridgeforth. The tip allegedly named each Bridgeforth and the sufferer.
Investigators made contact with the woman, who initially denied any relationship, and her mom. However throughout a forensic interview on February 27, the woman allegedly acknowledged that Bridgeforth would ship her cash when she requested and described an incident during which he touched her thigh whereas the 2 have been in his automobile.
A forensic extraction of the woman’s cellphone instructed a special story, prosecutors say. Investigators allegedly discovered roughly 75 messages between the woman and Bridgeforth transmitted on February 22 and 23 during which she agreed to ship him movies of herself in change for cash. 4 movies of kid pornography depicting the woman have been additionally recovered from the cellphone, the detention submitting stated.
Prosecutors say Bridgeforth additionally directed the woman to ship him nude photographs and movies in change for cash, giving her specific directions about what he wished to see. The woman instructed investigators she despatched movies to Bridgeforth as just lately as final month.
The sufferer’s mom then turned over the woman’s older cellphone and pointed investigators to the woman’s CashApp account, which confirmed quite a few transactions during which Bridgeforth had despatched her cash, prosecutors alleged.
Throughout a second forensic interview this week, the woman disclosed that on a number of events between June and December 2025, she texted Bridgeforth for cash whereas she was at Lan-Oak Park in Lansing. Earlier than handing over any money, prosecutors say, he made her get into his automobile. One time, he took her cellphone away, pinned her arms down, and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors stated. The woman needed to bodily push him off to cease the assault, in response to the detention petition.
Bridgeforth has no prior felony convictions, however he does have a 2018 disorderly conduct conviction, which was pleaded down from felony aggravated discharge of a firearm. He acquired a six-month conditional discharge.
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