Mount Prospect man sentenced on child pornography charges
A Mount Prospect man who served as an unofficial photographer for several Prospect High School teams was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
Ronald Godby, 54, pleaded guilty to two charges of possession of child pornography, court records show. In addition to his four-year sentence, Godby was sentenced to two years conditional discharge on the other charge. The judge ordered Godby to serve the sentences concurrently.
In once case, prosecutors said Godby, a former Northwestern University police officer, took explicit photos of a 17-year-old girl two years ago in Busse Woods.
In the other case, prosecutors say he took explicit photos of a teenage girl he had known since she was 6 years old. According to prosecutors, police found pornographic images on Godby's computer at the Northwestern University Police Department.
Godby had taken thousands of individual portraits and team photos, and had photographed Prospect cheerleading, dance, theater and choral ensembles, but he was never employed by the high school or by Northwest Suburban High School District 214. After his arrest, the district instructed him to remove from his website all photographs of District 214 students, events and activities.
As a condition of his plea, Godby must pay $1,659 in fines and register as a sex offender.