Noted pinball machine designer charged with child porn possession

A well-known designer in the pinball machine industry has been charged with keeping child pornography on a computer at his west suburban home.

John Trudeau, 69, faces two felony counts of possession of pornography after authorities searched his home on Thursday in the first bock of Medinah Circle, according to a statement from Glendale Heights police.

Trudeau has designed dozens of pinball machines dating back to the late 1970s. According to an online profile, he is a senior game designer at Stern Pinball Inc., a design and manufacturing company in Elk Grove Village.

An employee who answered the phone at Stern confirmed that Trudeau worked there but declined to comment.

“Trudeau has been part or lead of the design team for several famous pinball machines, including Ghostbusters, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and many others over the past several decades,” said Jeff Patterson of This Week in Pinball, a blog dedicated to the niche gaming world.

“Understandably, the people I’ve talked to in the pinball community have been shocked and very disturbed by the allegations,” Patterson said in an email.

Other machines that Trudeau has been credited with include Rocky, Chicago Cubs Triple Play and The Flintstones.

Police didn’t say what led detectives to Trudeau in the child pornography investigation.

Trudeau was home Thursday morning when Glendale Heights police and DuPage County sheriff’s officers executed a search warrant, seizing electronics “which contained numerous computerized files” of illegal images, according to police.

Trudeau posted bond and was released from the DuPage County Jail over the weekend, ahead of his next court date, records show. He could not be reached for comment on Monday.