DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, Lombard Chief of Police Roy Newton and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick announced today that bond has been set for a Bellwood Police Commander accused of possessing child pornography.

John Trevarthen, 45 (d.o.b. 9/17/1975) of the 300 block of E. 17^th Place, Lombard, appeared in Bond Court this morning where Judge Anthony Coco set bond at $150,000 with 10% to apply. Trevarthen is charged with three counts of Possession of Child Pornography, a Class 2 Felony.

In mid January, a Lombard Police detective who is a member of the Illinois Attorney General Crimes Against Children Taskforce received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding suspected child pornography videos and photographs that were allegedly uploaded on a smart phone file-sharing application with an email address that registered to a home in Lombard.

Following the tip, the Lombard Police Department immediately began an investigation into the matter. On February 5, 2021, a traffic stop was executed on the defendant at which time his personal iPhone was seized. Additionally, a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s home resulting in the seizure of his iPad.

Both devices were sent to the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office’s Digital Forensic Unit for analysis. Following an investigation into the matter, it is alleged that Trevarthen used a personal IP address as well as an IP address owned by the Village of Bellwood to view child pornography through the file-sharing application “Kik.”

“The allegations against Mr. Trevarthen are disturbing,” Berlin said. “I would like to thank the Lombard Police Department as well as the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office for their outstanding work on this case. I would also like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Lee Roupas for his efforts in protecting the innocent victims of child pornography.”

“I would like to thank members of my investigations team as well as the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office for their cooperative efforts that led to the charges filed against this defendant,” Newton said.”

“Our Digital Forensic Unit once again demonstrates the value of having a unit dedicated specifically to processing technology,” Sheriff Mendrick said. “I commend our detectives who worked on this case and we will continue to bolster our efforts during this rise in cyber criminality.”

Trevarthen’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 8, 2021 for arraignment in front of Judge Jeffrey MacKay.

Members of the public are reminded that this complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendant’s guilt.  A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.