COOK COUNTY, IL – A former south suburban police officer, who was out on bond for a child pornography case, is facing new charges of Criminal Sexual Assault and Solicitation of Child Sexual Abuse Material following a Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigation, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
On Feb. 26, Sheriff’s Police Investigators received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about 40-year-old Tory Bridgeforth having a sexual relationship with a juvenile.
Investigators learned that Bridgeforth, of Chicago, requested and received nude videos from the juvenile victim and that he had sexual contact with the victim.
On March 4, Sheriff’s Police Investigators took Bridgeforth into custody. The following day the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged him with Criminal Sexual Assault and Solicitation of Child Sexual Abuse Material.
At the time of his arrest, Bridgeforth was out on a $500,000 D-bond for a Possession of Child Pornography charges that had resulted from a 2023 Sheriff’s Police arrest. His bench trial on that case was scheduled for March 5, but he could not make court because he was in custody on the new offenses.
Bridgeforth was terminated from the Dixmoor Police Department in 2022 and previously worked for the Robbins Police Department in 2019.
He was ordered to Cook County Jail custody on March 6 following his initial court appearance at the Markham Courthouse.
The public is reminded that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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