Michael S. Ritchason is the Lead Pastor of Riverside Community Church and was elected to the City Council of Pekin, Illinois. He is also a former elementary school teacher. He was recently arrested for crimes against a juvenile, specifically disseminating harmful materials to a juvenile.
The definition of harmful to minors makes clear this is not about sex ed. “That quality of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when, taken as a whole, it predominately appeals to the prurient interest in sex of minors, is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community in the State as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.”
- 25 News: Peoria pastor arrested, accused of crimes involving a juvenile
- WYZZ: UPDATED: Pastor arrested in Pekin for harmful materials to a child
- 25 News: Peoria pastor formally charged with sending sexually graphic material to minor