CHICAGO — A suburban man who patrolled Boystown’s bar district for years as a contracted security officer has been sentenced to 109 years in prison for recording himself having sex with a 13-year-old boy. Ronald Lye, 54, must serve half of the prison time, making him eligible for release sometime around his 109th birthday.
Officials said Lye met with the boy repeatedly during five weeks in April and May 2020, driving to the teen’s home and taking him to Lye’s house in Aurora. Lye recorded his sexual contact with the boy and knew the victim was 13, prosecutors claimed during a bench trial that ended earlier this year with Lye being found guilty on 44 felony counts.
In May 2020, shortly after CWBChicago published a story about the sexual assault allegations, Lye submitted a lengthy email through our website in which he accused the 13-year-old boy of “lying…while being on a[n] adult dating website that requires you to be 18.”
Lye continued: “This person I was with is mature, manipulative [and] charming and he has been with multiple people NOT just me and lieing [sic] about his age etc again there is proof of that and will come out in court but unfortunately because he is a minor they have put all the blame on me.”
“He is very sexually active/experienced and he kept reaching out to me with his pushy manipulations, believable charm and lies during my week [sic], depressing state of mind from social isolation/distancing/lack of work,” Lye wrote, referring to the COVID lockdowns that were in place during the spring of 2020.
None of those arguments held water in January when, after years of pre-trial maneuvering, Lye put his fate in the hands of Kane County Judge David Kliment. The judge found Lye guilty of 13 counts of criminal sexual abuse, 13 counts of manufacturing child pornography, and 19 counts of possessing child pornography, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Those charges carried a minimum sentence of 81 years, but Kliment gave Lye 28 years on top of that. The judge also fined Lye $14,536.66, according to court records.
“This sentence will not make the victim whole, but ensures Ronald J. Lye will be locked behind bars for a very long time and he will be unable to prey on children,” Assistant State’s Attorney Morgan Wilkinson said in a media statement provided by the state’s attorney’s office.
Fake cop conviction
The Northalsted Business Alliance in 2015 said it was “reviewing its hiring process” when CWBChicago revealed that Lye was not authorized to work as a security guard after he was accused of taking people’s money while posing as a police officer in Kane County in 1999.
Lye pleaded guilty to impersonating a police officer and illegally using flashing blue lights in the case. Other charges, including armed robbery and armed violence, were dropped, according to his former attorney.
Lye and a co-worker allegedly extorted money from victims they encountered while posing as police when, in fact, they were security guards for a suburban motel.
One of Lye’s alleged victims was an underage man from out of state who was caught drinking. The Beacon News, citing police reports, said the victim had been handcuffed and was told that he would be released in exchange for $100. An adult who was accused by the cop impersonators of buying the 20-year-old’s beer also paid a “fine” to the guards, the paper reported.
After CWBChicago’s report, Lye asked the state to reissue his license to work as an unarmed security guard. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation agreed to give Lye a probationary permit the following year. Lye then returned to the Halsted Street patrol operation.
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