Former Dixmoor police Officer Tory Bridgeforth, 40, was charged with criminal sexual assault and solicitation of child sexual abuse material by the Cook County sheriff’s office, according to a statement Friday from the office.
Officers allege Bridgeforth, of Chicago, requested and received nude videos from a juvenile and that he had sexual contact with the victim, according to the statement.
Bridgeforth was taken into custody March 4 and ordered to Cook County Jail custody March 6 following his initial court appearance at the Markham courthouse.
Police said they received a tip about the allegations Feb. 26 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Bridgeforth contacted the victim online and convinced her to perform sexual acts for money, prosecutors said. Eventually this led to them meeting up where he forcibly sexually assaulted her, they said.
Prosecutors argued Bridgeforth be held in custody because admonishing him not to engage in such actions would not be adequate protection because he preys on minors.
Bridgeforth was also arrested in 2023 by the sherrif’s police for possession of child pornography. These charges were scheduled to be heard in a bench trial Thursday, but the trial was rescheduled when Bridgeforth was arrested for the new charges.
Bridgeforth was on a $500,000 bond for the 2023 charges at the time of the recent arrest.
Bridgeforth was terminated from the Dixmoor Police Department in 2022 and previously worked for the Robbins Police Department in 2019.
awright@chicagotribune.com
