Ranzenberger pleads not guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court
Editor's Note: Read the full (graphic) federal criminal complaint against Mark Ranzenberger below.
Former Central Michigan University fixed-term faculty member Mark Ranzenberger pleaded not guilty to one count of possession of child pornography June 7 in U.S. District Court in Bay City.
Ranzenberger was arrested May 20 after police found more than 1,000 images of child pornography on various digital devices in his possession. The investigation began after a student reported seeing thumbnails of pornographic images on Ranzenberger's computer that he unknowingly projected onto a classroom overhead screen.
A U.S. Secret Service criminal complaint filed May 19 states Ranzenberger admitted to Sgt. Mike Morrow of the CMUPD he had obtained the images from a German website. The complaint also said he admitted to creating a document detailing how to "groom" a child from birth to age 11 to be receptive to participating in sexual acts. Ranzenberger told Morrow the document was "purely fantasy."
Ranzenberger also told U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Chris Cruze he had accessed a bulletin board sometime between 2004 and 2006 and downloaded several zip files containing pornographic images of children.
The next court date has yet to be scheduled. Ranzenberger worked at CMU from 1999 until his resignation March 21.
