Ranzenberger sentencing scheduled for Thursday morning
A former Central Michigan University professor is scheduled to be sentenced at 9:45 a.m. Thursday in Isabella County Court for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Mark Ranzenberger was charged in October of four counts of sexual assault of a child between 1999 and 2003. As part of a plea deal accepted Monday, three of those charges will be dropped. Sentencing guidelines will be set to a minimum 14 years in prison. A parole board will decide if he should serve more time.
Ranzenberger was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a federal Judge on Jan. 19 for child pornography. The sentences will be served concurrently, meaning Ranzenberger will not need to serve additional time to fulfill the federal sentence.
More than 1,000 images of child porn, including the penetration of an infant, were found on digital devices belonging to Ranzenberger following an investigation that began when he accidentally displayed pornographic thumbnails to a class.
Ranzenberger resigned from CMU and the Mount Pleasant Planning Commission in March.
A CMU alumnus, Ranzenberger taught journalism and broadcast and cinematic arts classes at CMU since 1999. He previously worked at the Midland Daily News, Huron Daily Tribune and The Morning Sun.
Visit cm-life.com later today for an update on his sentencing.
