Police: Phone sex company alerts police to alleged child sex abuse in Brackenridge

A tip from a phone sex company owner resulted in Allegheny County Police charging a 42-year-old Brackenridge man with sexually abusing a 9-year-old boy.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, John Patrick Godfrey claimed his talk with the phone sex operator was only fantasy, but Allegheny County Police said they found photos on Godfrey’s cellphone depicting him carrying out the acts he described.

Police charged Godfrey with 18 felony offenses, including 10 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of dissemination of child pornography. He also is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.

The complaint said the owner of a phone sex company contacted Brackenridge police on Sept. 3 about disturbing comments Godfrey allegedly made to one of her operators earlier that day.

Godfrey allegedly talked about performing sex acts on a 9-year-old boy and masturbating in front of him, and had the boy say hello on the call.

Godfrey was identified because he gave his date of birth, home address, credit card number and the boy’s name to the operator, the complaint said.

The owner of the company gave county detectives a recording of the conversation.

The complaint said Godfrey admitted to detectives that he made the call to the phone sex operator, but he claimed it was all fantasy and denied ever sexually abusing the boy. He did not expect anyone from the phone sex company to call police.

“Godfrey believed it would be exciting and that it would add to the fantasy by having (the boy) say hello to the phone sex operator,” police said in the complaint.

The complaint said Godfrey also admitted to having child porn on his cellphone. He allegedly said he has requested and received pornographic images of girls as young as 14 from various accounts on phone apps for several years.

The complaint said Godfrey also admitted to sending photos of nude girls he claimed to be as young as 12 or 13 to others using the same apps.

Police said Godfrey gave permission for detectives to search his cellphone. Police said they found numerous images of child pornography, including multiple images they say corroborate the sexual acts Godfrey described carrying out on the boy to the phone sex operator.

In December 2017, a Warren County judge sentenced Godfrey to three months to two years in jail for molesting a girl when she was 8 or 9 years old. Godfrey had pleaded guilty to indecent assault in September of that year. His sentence was marked as satisfied in January 2018, according to court records.

Godfrey’s bail was set at $50,000 during an arraignment Friday morning. He was sent to Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 30 before District Judge Carolyn Bengel.