Year in Review

Child Porn, Sex Assault, Child Luring Cases to Continue in 2013

Former Wheaton College professor and former WWS teacher continue child porn cases. Three men face charges of criminal sexual assault against a teen. A Wheaton man is charged with secretly filming his stepdaughter in the shower.

Former Wheaton College professor Donald Ratcliff has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of child pornography possession and three weapons-related charges after police found the materials on his computer in March. At a March 8 hearing, prosecutors offered a detailed overview of materials recovered from computers and DVDs at Ratcliff's home after investigators tracked downloads of child pornography to his computer. Among the five computer hard drives and hundreds of DVDs recovered, investigators found images and videos of child rape, fondling and sexually suggestive dancing by girls as young as preschool age.  Prosecutors said earlier that Ratcliff, 60, rationalized the reasons he downloaded, viewed and shared explicit videos featuring girls…

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Former WWS Teacher's Child Porn Case to Resume Next Week

Jason Haas, a former biology teacher at Wheaton Warrenville South High School, is scheduled to appear for a pretrial in Will County Court Dec. 5.

A former Wheaton Warrenville South High School biology and chemistry teacher charged with possession of child pornography is scheduled to return to court in Will County next week for a pretrial hearing.  Jason Haas, 36, was arrested almost two years ago on December 3, 2010 in Naperville on charges of aggravated possession of child pornography. Keep up with Wheaton's news: Sign up for our free daily newsletter. Then like us on Facebook for a slightly different take. "Aggravated" possession of child pornography refers to depictions of children under the age of 13, according to Illinois law. Haas faces three counts of the charge, a Class 2 felony. Haas pleaded not guilty in Will County Court in January 2011, court records show. The case has …

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