BLOOMINGTON – Richard Wilk, a 70-year-old former professor at Indiana University, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography, a Level 5 felony. The sentence, handed down by Monroe Circuit Court 2 Judge Valeri Haughton, includes two years of monitored home detention.
The court imposed a three-year sentence, with one year suspended. The remaining two years were converted to house arrest, meaning Wilk will serve his time under home detention rather than in a correctional facility.
According to court documents, the investigation into Wilk began on December 13, when Bloomington Police detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The organization alerted authorities to a Dropbox account containing child pornography involving a person under 12 years old.
Following the tip, police contacted Dropbox and obtained specific account information identifying Wilk as a suspect. Authorities then executed a search warrant at Wilk’s Bloomington residence.
During an interview with police, Wilk admitted to viewing child pornography. In a controversial statement, he reportedly told officers that they should be focusing their efforts on pursuing the “producers of the child pornography” rather than consumers like himself.
Resources for reporting suspected child exploitation are available through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678).
