Wheaton College Professor Faces Child Porn Charges
CAROL STREAM, Ill. (CBS) – A Wheaton College professor has been charged with possession of child pornography, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Donald Ratcliff, 60, of Carol Stream was charged with two counts of aggravated child pornography, a Class 2 felony, following an undercover investigation that led detectives to him, according to a news release by the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. He reportedly was taken into custody Thursday afternoon by Carol Stream police.
Ratcliff allegedly had images and videos containing child pornography.
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"The allegations against Mr. Ratcliff are very disheartening. Child pornography is not a victimless crime. The sad truth is that thousands of images depicting child pornography are distributed over the Internet every day," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in the news release.
Ratcliff has a doctorate in educational psychology, according to a biographical page on the Wheaton College website. He is listed as the Price-Lebar Professor of Christian Education and has been on the faculty since 2006. He is married with three children.
Describing his research, Ratcliff says it involves child development in "school or church contexts," according to the Wheaton College bio page.
Ratcliff was scheduled to appear in Bond Court at 8 a.m. Friday.
Wheaton College officials could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
