Noted pinball machine designer charged with child porn possession

SHARE Noted pinball machine designer charged with child porn possession
screen_shot_2017_08_25_at_9_57_03_am.jpg

John Trudeau | DuPage County Sheriff’s Office photo

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.

The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.