GUILTY IL - Wheaton College Professor Wrote Children's Books On Spirituality Busted

[Filly]

A Wheaton College Professor who wrote children's books on spirituality and taught classes on it has been busted in a raid on child pornography charges and firearm charges.

Donald Ratcliff aged 60 you have been busted.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-college-prof-kid-porn-20120304,0,2528358.story

 

[Filly]

.............and the esteemed Don Ratcliff's site has been suspended.




http://don.ratcliffs.net/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi

 

[Filly]

However his FB page is still available.

Wrote ten books, and enjoys watching movies as well as making them. Oh Dear Lord almighty.




http://www.facebook.com/donald.ratcliff


Got himself on YouTube.

 

[Filly]

Read it and weap. A list of his books.





http://www.bookfinder.com/author/donald-ratcliff/

 

[Pandora]

OMG! He was one of my husband's professors in college (Toccoa Falls College)! I cannot wrap my head around this.
He was always an odd duck in my mind, but I saw him around campus all the time. :O

 

[Missizzy]

"The Complete Guide to Religious Education Volunteers"????

Sorry to say but we should have been consulted.

 

[Filly]

OMG! He was one of my husband's professors in college (Toccoa Falls College)! I cannot wrap my head around this.
He was always an odd duck in my mind, but I saw him around campus all the time. :O

Get out!:what:

You must be freaked out, Pandora. Sorry you had to see it here. Maybe that odd duck thing was a sixth sense you had?

 

[Filly]

"The Complete Guide to Religious Education Volunteers"????

Sorry to say but we should have been consulted.

Yes we should have been.

I knew you'd weigh in on this guy, Izzy. Can you imagine?

Plus the firearms. Although his lawyer said they are antiques. Whatever, dude.

 

[Missizzy]

Just dandy to know that he worked personally with 4 year olds, according to this 2010 article:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/january/13.28.html

Spiritual Lives All Their Own
What if children have their own experiences of God—and a genuine free will to respond?

"....In my book, I talk about some 4-year-olds I have worked with. There are four or five tasks that are customarily done in church, and I thought they could learn how to do those with one another. So we encouraged them to take the offering, to preach a short sermon, and so on. When it came time for one little 4-year-old to preach, she said, "Girls don't preach." I didn't know how to respond. So I said, "Well, imagine that girls can preach." And she went up and did a wonderful job...."

More at link (2 pages)

 

[Cubby]

This guy is up a creek. DuPage County is NOT the county one wants to get busted in.

This one is local for me so I'll be following it.

 

[Pandora]

Get out!:what:

You must be freaked out, Pandora. Sorry you had to see it here. Maybe that odd duck thing was a sixth sense you had?

Trust me, we are all freaked out. While I didn't have him for a class, so many did. TFC has a large married student population w/ children. Many of the married students live on campus w/ their kids in a mobile home village. There were and are little ones EVERYWHERE--even in some college classes if child-care was not available/emergency.

We're spreading the word. . . .

 

[Cubby]

Brenda Ratcliff, wife of the Wheaton College professor accused of downloading and sharing child pornography, issued the following statement to Patch, via email:

"My children and I have felt strongly from the moment of Don's arrest that he needs to remain in the DuPage County Jail. We have not nor will we assist in any fashion in his release. We are devastated by the allegations against him. We fear for his safety as well as our own should he be released."

http://wheaton.patch.com/articles/judge-reduces-wheaton-profs-bail-in-porn-case

 

[Cubby]

Ratcliff, 60, of Carol Stream, told investigators it was “potentially therapeutic” and a “healthy alternative” to adult pornography. He also said research in Europe determined viewing such images was a way to avoid becoming a pedophile.

“He indicated he felt he had a problem with child pornography, but it was not an addiction,” Assistant State’s Attorney Anne Therieau said during a Thursday court hearing at which Ratcliff sought a bail reduction. “He indicated his behavior, for the most part, is moral.”

http://wheaton.patch.com/articles/judge-reduces-wheaton-profs-bail-in-porn-case

Ok, this guy is just sick. His adult daughter found child porn on her computer too after this sick forgot to delete the information from his daughters computer.

Article is worth the read.

 

[Cubby]

Also from the above article:

Ratcliff is being held in DuPage County Jail on two counts of aggravated possession of child pornography, as well as two misdemeanor weapons-related charges, following an undercover operation conducted by the Carol Stream Police Department. Arguing to reduce Ratcliff’s bail from $750,000 to $100,000, his attorney, Dan Collins, said his client has the support of his family and his church.
“This has shaken his family to its core,” Collins said.
Judge John Kinsella called the initial bail amount “extremely high” for a case where probation is a possible sentence. :thud:

 

[Cubby]

Professor Charged for Child Porn Also Had 2 Pistols, 1,600 Rounds of Ammunition

http://wheaton.patch.com/articles/p...also-had-2-pistols-1-600-rounds-of-ammunition

I hope DuPage County doesn't go easy on this guy because of his occupation. I'm very uneasy with the comments made by the judge in the most recent article.

Probation shouldn't even be an option for this .

 

[Missizzy]

Can Ratcliff cite sources which assert that there is therapeutic value in viewing the rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of young children?

This is moral behavior?? Jeesh. Give us all a break.

 

[Missizzy]

Hmmm, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse doesn't seem to support viewing child porn.

http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/treaties/html/201.htm

"...Observing that the sexual exploitation of children, in particular child pornography and prostitution, and all forms of sexual abuse of children, including acts which are committed abroad, are destructive to children’s health and psycho-social development..."

More at link

 

[Cubby]

Can Ratcliff cite sources which assert that there is therapeutic value in viewing the rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of young children?

This is moral behavior?? Jeesh. Give us all a break.

I doubt it, unless it's from a group similiar to NAMBLA.

Giving more thought to his wifes comment about fearing for his safety and their safety if he was released from jail. I do not think Ratcliff would be at risk from any one else harming him. One of the MSM articles indicated he made a comment about suicide being the easiest way out. My fear would be a murder/suicide scenario in which Ratcliff would murder his family and then kill himself if released from jail.

 

[Missizzy]

I do believe a divorce is in order.


http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120328/news/703289829

Wheaton College professor indicted for child porn
March 28, 2012

"A Wheaton College professor charged with child pornography has been indicted, and his wife wants a divorce. Donald Ratcliff, 60, was indicted on seven counts of aggravated child pornography Tuesday, less than a week after his wife of 33 years filed to end their marriage...."

and

"....Prosecutors say he possessed at least 500 images of child pornography on computer equipment seized from his home by Carol Stream police. Ratcliff’s wife, B, has said she and their three adult children would not pay his bond because they “fear for our safety as well as his if he were released....”

and

"...Donald Ratcliff is accused of having pictures and videos of children younger than 13. Prosecutors have said many of the images involved children younger than 5..."


More at link

 

[0101ABA]

March 2014

Blaming himself for not viewing all the child pornography presented as evidence in a former Wheaton College professor's sentencing hearing, a judge Wednesday sharply reduced the man's sentence.

Three overlooked videos, Judge John Kinsella said, were "disgusting" but not as egregious as a DVD he did view before sentencing Donald Ratcliff in February to 42 months in prison.

"The contents of the DVDs were described to be the same (as the one he viewed in court), but they were not," Kinsella said in court. "I'm not suggesting this was innocent material because it's not. It's disgusting. But after re-examining all of the evidence I am compelled to reconsider the sentence."

Ratcliff's new sentence is 180 days in jail. And because of credit for time served, he should be a free man in May.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20140320/news/140329945/