CHOMO Radio

Chomo is a slang term for Child molester. I use the term because it really makes them sound like defective degenerates. I've written about felonious DJs before here. But there were so many it could have been a series. There is a subset of those that are the worst of the worst: DJs that have been arrested as pedophiles. The lowest of the low. As public figures they really bring down the industry. I've researched just the last 10 years or so of US arrests from the headlines to comprise the below quick list.

 91.3 WCSG - Grand Rapids, MI
John Balyo, a Christian radio host was arrested for child porn. Baylo was an an eight-year employee of Cornerstone University's WCSG-FM.  He was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in state prison. More here.

93.3 KMXV - Kansas City, MO
Gregory D. Sage was arrested in 2007 on 5 counts of child pornography. He did afternoons DJ'ing at KMXV starting in 2002 and was promoted to promotions manager in 2006. Sage also worked at KCKC doing a little traffic and promotions. More here.

810 KGO-AM - San Francisco, CA
This one was so big it made the international news. Bernie Ward was a radio talk show host at KGO. His career began there doing fill-in slots starting in 1985. He remained on staff until his firing in 2007 following the indictment. He is now serving a seven-year prison sentence for the online distribution of child pornography.

1230 KTNC-AM - Falls City, NE
Matthew Leaf was a radio news and high school sports broadcaster in an unrated market area. He was arrested at the radio station on suspicion of possessing child pornography.  MThe radio station has removed his image from their webpage. More here.

13420 WJAS-AM - Pittsburgh, PA
Michael H. McGann was formerly program director of WJAS-AM in Pittsburgh. He retired in 2008. Previosly he had been a DJ at WTAE-AM, WPRR-AM, WISR-AM, WRKZ-AM,and WIXZ-AM among others. Sherrifs caught him admitting to various felonies in an online chat room in February 2012. He was arraigned last June. More here and here.

102.9 WYFM-FM - Youngstown, OH
Caught in 2009 after chatting up federal agents online, Y103 Radio host Scott Kennedy was sentenced by a federal judge for possession of child pornography. He will spend 51 months in prison and pay a $25,000 fine. More here and here.

104.3/950 KKFN-AM - Denver, CO
Dean Edward Letschka was a traffic reporter on KKFN in Denver under the name Sam Hammer. But in 2004 he was arrested and charged with attempting to produce child pornography. In a sting operation instead of receiving a box of Polaroids he received a visit from federal agents. He was has sentenced to federal prison for 8 years. More here.

93.7 WOGK-FM - Ocala, FL
Terrell Bellows, the former co-host of the "Mr. Bob Morning Show" on WOGK was caught after he chatted online with an undercover FBI agent about trading child porn.  In 2006 he was sentenced to five years in federal prison Thursday for possession of child pornography. More here.

98.1 WBUL-FM - Lexington, KY
Roy D. Baldridge, known on air as "Dusty Dan" on WBUL was charged in 2009 with four counts of possession of child porn. The tale of his capture was kind of amazing. Originally charged only with burglary, he was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property and possession of a defaced firearm. But then police seized and searched his computer... leading to more serious charges. More here.

102.7 WNEW-FM - New York City, NY
Dave Herman was 78 years old and died in 2014 waiting to go to trial. He started out at WHTG but distinguished himself as at WMMR in the late 1960s. He later joined WABC and moved to WNEW in 1972 where he stayed for 20 years. Later on he worked at WXRK and rejoined WNEW in 1997 retiring in 1998. He was arrested in 2013 at an airport in the Virgin Islands on a charge of attempting to transport a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. More here.