Former Dixmoor police officer charged with possessing child porn

DIXMOOR, Ill. — A former Dixmoor police officer is accused of possessing sexually explicit content of minors as young as 8 years old, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.

Tory Bridgeforth, 37, of Chicago Heights was taken into custody on Wednesday after the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Internet Crimes Against Children unit received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about child pornography found on an email account.

An executed search warrant linked Bridgeforth, an officer with the Dixmoor Police Department from 2021-2022, to the email account in question.

Deputies allege that upon arrest, Bridgeforth admitted to using his cellphone to view child pornography. A subsequent forensic examination of his phone revealed more than 35 sexually explicit images and videos of children as young as 8.

Bridgeforth faces two felony counts of possession of child pornography videos of victims under 18 and 13, respectively. He will appear in bond court on Saturday.

Bridgeforth also worked for the Robbins Police Department in 2019.