(MOUNT PROSPECT) A Northwestern University police lieutenant has been placed on administrative leave after being charged with child pornography for taking inappropriate photos of a teenage girl, according to police.
Ronald Godby, 53, was charged with manufacturing child pornography, possessing child pornography and grooming, all felonies, according to Cook County court records.
Last week, Mount Prospect police were alerted to “inappropriate Snapchat pictures of a pornographic nature” posted by Godby, according to a statement from police.
The photos were of a 17-year-old girl, who told police Godby took the inappropriate photos of her at his home in the 700 block of South Oak Avenue in Mount Prospect, police said.
Godby “used his relationship with a family friend” to take photos of the girl at his home photography business, where he also took photos of the cheerleading, choir and dance teams at a northwest suburban high school, according to a statement from the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
According to prosecutors, Godby knew had known the girl since she was a child, and had photographed her alone and with family members “on several occasions,” according to tprosecutors.
In 2013, he suggested that he and the then 13-year-old girl do a photo shoot, to which she agreed because her parents knew where she was. Godby drove the girl to a remote location in Des Plaines where he directed the teen “to pose in provocative positions” and then took several zoomed-in photos “that were sexual in nature” without the girl’s knowledge, according to prosecutors.
After the photo shoot, Godby began communicating with the victim on Facebook and other social media sites.
In the fall of 2015, the girl went to Godby’s home photography studio for a portrait to give to her grandmother. As the session progressed, the teen changed clothes several times for different shots, and Godby’s directions became sexually suggestive, according to prosecutors. At that point the girl left.
Last month, Godby told the teen he would like to photographer her again, and sent her sexually suggestive images of women and “a pornographic picture of a penis.” The teenager told her classmates, and they told a teacher, who contacted police, according to prosecutors.
Authorities searched Godby’s home, vehicles and his office at the Northwestern University Police Department on Monday, and took several computers, hard drives, data storage units and professional cameras.
Investigators found pornographic pictures of the 17-year-old girl, taken four years ago when she was 13, on Godby’s hard drive, according to the statement. Authorities do not believe Godby ever shared the photos.
Godby has been placed on administrative leave and banned from the Northwestern ampus, according to a statement from university spokesman Alan Cubbage.
“There is no indication of any risk to the Northwestern community from this individual at this time,” he said. “This is now a criminal matter under investigation by the appropriate authorities, and Northwestern University is cooperating in that investigation.”
Godby was ordered held on a $100,000 bond during an appearance at the Rolling Meadows courthouse Wednesday, according to court records. He is next scheduled to appear in court Feb. 26.
As a condition of bond, Godby cannot have contact with anyone under 18 outside of his immediate family, must give all his guns to local police, and cannot use the Internet or a cell phone, according to police.
UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM PROSECUTORS
