IU professor emeritus sentenced to three years in prison for possession of child pornography

Editor’s Note: This story mentions potentially triggering situations such as child pornography.

IU professor emeritus Richard Wilk entered a guilty plea Sept. 10 to possession of child pornography, a Level 5 felony. He was sentenced to two years of house arrest and one year of probation starting October 3rd.

According to the affidavit, it was Wilk arrested on Jan. 9 after police found it a “large amount” of child pornography was stored on his IU-affiliated Dropbox account. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified police on December 13, 2023, after Dropbox reported the illegal content on December 10, 2023. Wilk was released on bail on January 10.

A Bloomington police detective reportedly took Wilk to his car to chat while others searched his home, where Wilk admitted to viewing child pornography. Wilk told the detective he was curious and had an addiction problem. The affidavit said Wilk advised the detective to go after the child pornography producers.

The conditions of Wilk’s house arrest include attending counseling sessions and court-ordered courses and complying with a court-imposed curfew. He will be on probation and will have visits approved by a probation officer.

Mark Bode, IU executive director of media relations, did not confirm the status of Wilk’s Distinguished Professor Emeritus title and said IU does not comment on individual cases.

“However, I can generally say that the conviction of a faculty member for a crime regularly leads to the revocation of his honorary and emeritus titles,” said Bode.