Ex-journalism teacher at CMU guilty in child porn case

Mount Pleasant — A man who taught journalism at Central Michigan University has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and admitted he sexually abused a child three times a week between 1995 and 2002.

Mark Ranzenberger pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Bay City. He faces many years in prison.

The investigation began when pornographic images were mistakenly displayed in class with his computer. Ranzenberger was accused of possessing 1,000 images of child porn. He told investigators he thought “he had gotten rid of all that stuff.”

In March, he quit his job at CMU with a handwritten note. He also quit the Mount Pleasant Planning Commission. Ranzenberger was a journalist at the Morning Sun in Mount Pleasant until 2013.