PEORIA (IL)
The Journal Star [Peoria IL]
February 26, 2026
By Zach Roth
- A former Peoria pastor pleaded not guilty to charges of sending an illicit photo to a minor.
- Michael S. Ritchason is accused of sending a picture of his genitals via Snapchat to someone he believed was a minor.
- Ritchason resigned from his role at Riverside Community Church after being formally charged in December.
The former pastor of a Downtown Peoria church pleaded not guilty Thursday in Tazewell County Circuit Court to charges that he sent an illicit photograph of his genitals to a minor last August.
Michael S. Ritchason, 48, pleaded not guilty to a single count of distributing harmful material to a minor. He is accused of sending a photograph of his genitals over Snapchat to a person he believed to be a minor last August. Ritchason was the former pastor at Riverside Community Church in Peoria, where he resigned from his role last December after he was officially charged.
Ritchason was indicted last week on the harmful material counts, with the former pastor being accused of knowingly sending the photographs to a person he believed to be a minor. Prosecutors say he did not exercise proper care in confirming whether or not they were of age.
More: Ex-Peoria pastor accused of sending illicit photo released before trial
Ritchason was arrested in October 2025 after police in Pekin received evidence of ongoing dissemination of the photos. According to an affidavit filed with the Tazewell County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Ritchason sent the photo over Snapchat on Aug. 24, 2025, sending photos back and forth with the unidentified person for over 20 minutes that night.
A video of the resulting Snapchat thread was recorded with another phone, with the messages lasting from 10:59 p.m. that night to 11:22 p.m. The time on the video indicated that it had been recorded minutes after Ritchason sent the photo of his genitals, according to the affidavit.
Pekin police reviewed the recording on Oct. 5 and arrested Ritchason two days later. Ritchason was placed on leave from Riverside before he resigned on Dec. 29.
Ritchason will next appear in court March 19 at 9:30 a.m. He is currently out of jail on conditions which include requiring him to comply with pre-trial services, subjecting his electronic devices and social media accounts to a manual search at the request of the court and not to have any contact with the minor to whom he is accused of sending the photo.
Affidavit: Illicit photo on Snapchat leads to arrest of Peoria pastor