Tip leads to arrest on child porn charges

A Round Lake Park man is charged with felony possession of child pornography after police received a tip Friday and arrested him a short time later.

John R. Hedges, 40, of 911 Barbara Court, was arrested by Round Lake Park police Friday after a person reported that Hedges may have pornographic images of children on some compact discs in his house, Round Lake Park police Chief George Filenko said.

The tipster brought some of the discs to police, who said the images of the girls range in age from about 6 to 16 years old, Filenko said.

Police got a search warrant and removed several items and computers from Hedges' house Friday night, police said.

Filenko urged people to come to police if they see suspicious images.

"If they observe or have knowledge of something, we're always encouraging them to come forward. If there's nothing to it, so be it," Filenko said.

"We need to get the predators off the streets," Filenko said.

Hedges will appear in bond court at the Lake County courthouse in Waukegan this morning to face the charges. More charges may be filed against Hedges in the future, pending the ongoing investigation, Filenko said.