Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of potentially triggering situations, such as child pornography.
IU professor emeritus Richard Wilk filed a guilty plea to possession of child pornography, a level 5 felony, Sept. 10. He was sentenced to two years of home detention, which began Oct. 3, and one year of suspended jail time.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Wilk was arrested Jan. 9 after police found a “large quantity” of child pornography saved to his IU-affiliated Dropbox account. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified police Dec. 13, 2023, after Dropbox flagged the illegal content Dec. 10, 2023. Wilk was released on bond Jan. 10.
One Bloomington Police detective reportedly took Wilk out to his car to talk 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 he should pursue the child pornography producers.
The conditions of Wilk’s home detention are attending counseling and court-ordered classes and abiding by a court-imposed curfew. He’ll be on probation and permit visits from a probation officer.
Wilk currently holds the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus at IU, where he taught anthropology from 1988 until his 2017 retirement, according to his biography on IU’s list of distinguished and titled professors. Because of this, Wilk has special access to university grants and funding, software, visiting lecturers and more, according to IU’s Emeriti Faculty webpage.
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 say generally, in situations when a faculty member is convicted of a crime, it regularly triggers the removal of honorary and emeriti titles,” Bode said.
