Former Boystown security patrol officer will get at least 81 years in prison for sexually assaulting 13-year-old boy: prosecutors

Ronald Lye in a 2020 mugshot. (Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office)

CHICAGO — A suburban man who once worked as a security patrol officer on the streets of Boystown, even though he was a convicted felon, will soon be sentenced to a minimum of 81 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy whom he met online.

CWBChicago first reported on Ronald Lye’s security work in 2015. Nearly five years later, in May 2020, Kane County prosecutors slapped him with the criminal assault charges.

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. He recorded his sexual contact with the boy and knew the victim was 13, prosecutors claim.

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.”

“He reached out to me, NOT me to him, he has a ID showing him to be of legal age and orders adult products etc with that ID and there is proof of it that will come out in court !!” Lye insisted. “As far as anything we may have done, it was 100% consensual, nothing was forced, no abuse at all and he admitted too it with proof of such that will come out in along court ordered news article retractions.”

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, depressing state of mind from social isolation/distancing/lack of work,” Lye stated.

None of those arguments held water last month when, after years of pre-trial maneuvering, Lye put his fate in the hands of Kane County Judge David Kliment.

At the end of the bench trial, Kliment 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.

Kliment is expected to hand down Lye’s sentence, which will be at least 81 years, on February 28, the state’s attorney’s office said.

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 illegal use of 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.