A former Central Michigan University faculty member Mark Ranzenberger appeared in the U.S. District Court recently, where he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. He also admitted to sexually abusing a minor on a regular basis, from 1995 through 2002.
The investigation began when a Central Michigan University students reported that Ranzenberger had accessed files from a cloud storage account during class. The screen was on display for the entire class to see, and apparently thumbnails of pornographic images involving children were visible to the entire class in Isabella County, Michigan.
Police officers searched Ranzenberger’s office and home, and discovered over 1,000 images of child pornography. Most of the images contained prepubescent girls engaged in sexual acts, or depicted posing naked in sexually suggestive ways. There were also several images of clothed children that Ranzenberger is alleged to have taken secretly himself, from a distance at public locations.
In addition, officers in Isabella County discovered a document detailing how to groom a child from birth to age 11 for participation in sexual acts. Ranzenberger admitted to writing the document and also to downloading the pornographic images from a German website. During interviews with investigators, however, he claimed that he had never sexually molested or assaulted a child.
That claim has since changed. Ranzenberger, formerly a journalism and broadcasting instructor at CMU, has admitted to repeated sexual assaults of a minor. Police say that the assaults on the minor took place about three times per week, starting in 1995 and continuing until 2005.
According to Court documents, the investigation was started by Central Michigan University Police, but eventually turned over to the United States Secret Service. Later, having discovered one alleged victim, the Secret Service directed the victim to Troopers at the Michigan State Police Mount Pleasant Post. Michigan State Police investigators completed the investigation, with assistance from that victim, and then turned over all of their findings to the U.S. Secret Service.
At his plea hearing, Federal Prosecutor Anca Pop read the plea agreement for the court. After that, Ranzenberger’s defense attorney read the facts and asked for confirmation from the accused. Ranzenberger agreed to everything, but noted that he was surprised at the number of pornographic images found.
According to the plea agreement in Federal Court, the advisory sentencing guidelines will range between eleven and fourteen years. Although a sentencing hearing has not been scheduled, the sentencing will be presided over by Judge Thomas Luddington. After Ranzenberger is released from prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender.