"Liberal" talk show host Ward charged with Internet kiddie porn

[Logan13]

For you Tock, since I know you would not post this one (it is about a lib after all.......
"Liberal" talk show host Ward charged with Internet kiddie porn
More than three years ago, Bernie Ward, a popular San Francisco liberal radio talk show host and former Catholic priest, got on the Internet and downloaded and sent out images of child pornography. He even talked about it in an Internet chat room.

The 56-year-old local personality - the host of a nightly news talk program on KGO 810 AM as well as "God Talk" on Sundays - says he was doing research.

But on Thursday, Ward was indicted by a grand jury on two federal counts of Internet child pornography - allegations that he possessed and distributed images using his computer.

Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg, said Thursday that for the past three years, he and other attorneys have been trying to convince the federal government that Ward is not a sexual predator, that he was simply doing research for a book on hypocrisy in America and was not engaged in anything more.

"The government knows that Bernie was doing this for an investigation he was doing for a book," said Weinberg, who appeared in federal court as Ward's lawyer and arranged the posting of a $250,000 bail bond. "But the government believes he violated the letter of the law, and they have gone ahead and prosecuted him."

As part of the research for the book, Ward - a married father of four - downloaded a few images of child pornography, Weinberg acknowledged.

In a brief interview, Ward said he "thought it was time to expose the dirty secret of the Internet in a book."

Federal authorities learned about Ward's activities in December 2004, Weinberg said, adding: "The fact that these events happened three years ago - and they are just being prosecuted - shows the fact that nobody believes that he is a child predator.

"He is just being prosecuted for a mistake he made (more than) three years ago."

Federal authorities seized Ward's computer in early 2005, and there was no evidence of child pornography or any other impropriety, Weinberg said.

"We have been trying to convince the government that this is not something they should proceed with. They said, 'He violated the law, sorry.' "

Authorities in the case noted that Ward was monitored as he went on a chat room and sent and received images, sources familiar with the case said. Weinberg did not comment on the details of those accusations, other than to confirm that his client is accused of distribution of images.

The possession of child pornography alone is a felony, without regard to intent, according to federal statutes. Federal law allows for the accidental discovery of three images or less to be forgiven, as long as the matter is promptly reported or that the images are immediately destroyed. There is no indication that Ward took such steps.

The minimum penalty is five years per image.

Federal authorities, citing a seal on the indictment against Ward, would not outline the details of the accusations. A San Francisco grand jury heard the case, which was handled by the U.S. Department of Justice because the U.S. attorney at the time - Kevin Ryan - asserted a conflict of interest that recused local federal prosecutors.

"I'd like to say what this is not," Ward told The Chronicle late Thursday. "It's not child abuse. It wasn't solicitation. I wasn't part of any ring. Most importantly, there was nothing on my computer. None of this was for titillation or entertainment."

He said he hopes that the charges "don't overshadow the fact that I've spent most of my life serving people. Everything I've done in my life has been with good intentions."

A statement from KGO radio called Ward "a valued, longtime employee."

"We were just recently made aware of these serious charges and are surprised and concerned by their nature," read the statement, in which the station said it would have no further comment. Ward's last show was Tuesday night; a substitute will take over his 10 p.m.-to-1 a.m. slot until further notice, the station said.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Ward graduated from St. Ignatius High School and, in 1973, from the University of San Francisco.

In 1977, he earned a theology degree from the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley. The same year, he was ordained to the priesthood with the Society of the Precious Blood. Ward left the priesthood after two years. He has said that he wanted a wife and child and believed he could continue to serve God outside the clergy. He married a physician and they had four children.

After leaving the priesthood, Ward taught at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa and at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose. From 1982 to 1985 he worked for then-Rep. Barbara Boxer as her chief legislative assistant.

He joined KGO in 1985, initially as a fill-in talk show host, then as a general assignment reporter, then as political reporter. He has won numerous national awards for his reporting, including an Associated Press award for his coverage of riots in Los Angeles.

In the mid-1990s, he partnered with reporters from the San Francisco Examiner on a series of investigative stories exposing financial and sexual improprieties within the San Francisco Archdiocese. He won a national award for those stories.

Billed by his station as "the lion of the left," he has appeared regularly on national television in recent years, railing against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.

"His listeners adore him; he has a very devoted audience," said Margo Magowan, who for six years was producer of Ward's nightly broadcast. "He's always been a wonderful person to work with. And he is such a wonderful father. During commercial breaks, his kids would call him. Bernie would drop everything to solve whatever crisis came up, whether it was a homework problem or somebody locking themselves in the bathroom. Then he went back on air without missing a beat."

For 22 years, he spent his Sunday mornings behind the microphone on the show that he created and has said was closest to his heart - "God Talk." Ward discussed a wide range of topics, from spirituality to the Christian message of helping the poor. He also focused on misdeeds within organized religion, especially his own faith, making him a controversial and provocative figure. He created the irreverent "Church of the Holy Donut," which now has 7,000 members.

Every Thanksgiving, he led a charity drive that has raised about $5 million. Several years ago, as part of the station's fund-raising drive for leukemia, he sat on a billboard for 24 hours to raise $75,000.

On Thursday, members of his "flock" called Ward a tireless champion for social justice.

"Our heart goes out to Bernie and his family," said Poncho Guevara, executive director of Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose. "Bernie has been an incredible leader. His approach is not only to talk about what is broken in society, but to inspire people to fix it."

Susan Prather, founder and executive director of Fresh Start, a Walnut Creek organization that helps the poor and homeless, credited Ward with saving her program seven years ago when funds had run out.

"There would be no Fresh Start without Bernie Ward," she said. "He raised $35,000 for us in 10 days. It kept our doors open.

"I think Bernie is one of a kind. He has a huge heart. He has never been cautious. Like many people he was ignorant of the law, he made a mistake and it is tragic. People who know him know that in no way is this Bernie Ward."

[Tock]

Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg, said Thursday that for the past three years, he and other attorneys have been trying to convince the federal government that Ward is not a sexual predator, that he was simply doing research for a book on hypocrisy in America and was not engaged in anything more.

"The government knows that Bernie was doing this for an investigation he was doing for a book," said Weinberg, who appeared in federal court as Ward's lawyer and arranged the posting of a $250,000 bail bond. "But the government believes he violated the letter of the law, and they have gone ahead and prosecuted him."

From what I understand, the gov't has known about his project since 2005 when they confiscated his computer. I'm not at all sure that he's been trying to get kiddie porn for his own amusement.

Nevertheless, the law says that nobody can have these pics, period, even researchers doing legitimate research on this topic. And, he had 'em on his computer. Guess we'll wait and see what the jury in his trial have to say.

[Logan13]

From what I understand, the gov't has known about his project since 2005 when they confiscated his computer. I'm not at all sure that he's been trying to get kiddie porn for his own amusement.

Nevertheless, the law says that nobody can have these pics, period, even researchers doing legitimate research on this topic. And, he had 'em on his computer. Guess we'll wait and see what the jury in his trial have to say.

I thought that it was against the law to transmit them to anyone else.

[Tock]

I thought that it was against the law to transmit them to anyone else.

From what I gather from this story, the guy didn't have any photos on his computer. He's charged with 2 counts of transmitting photos, so I'm guessing that in the course of working on his book, he may have been on a bullitin board like this one, but copied a couple of images from one place and posted them on another thread. Does that make him a child pornographer? I wouldn't think so, especially if his wife and other people were aware of what he was doing.

I dunno . . . it all depends on the particulars of the situation; we'll have to watch the news reports to see what exactly transpired. I'm thinking, though, that this guy is not a child pornographer because he's only charged on 2 counts of transmitting photos, and because he didn't have any other photos anywhere. Usually those guys have lots of pix on their hard drives.

Anyway, time will tell . . .

[Tock]

December 12, 2007 -- Looks like the Feds are saying he trafficked in kiddie porn on only a few days. Fits the profile of a researcher more than a habitual devote of porn.

Nevertheless, the law says you can't have any, and he had some. If he's actually got a book in progress where he's using the material, and it looks like he's not into kiddie porn, what would suppose the proper punishment should be?





http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...eam&id=5821709

Judge unseals indictment against Bernie Ward

Friday, December 07, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco has unsealed the indictment against KGO Radio talk show host, Bernie Ward, on child pornography charges.

The I-Team has learned the case against Bernie Ward began with a complaint to police in the Central Valley town of Oakdale. They quickly sent it to the FBI. Several people who are close to Bernie Ward tell the I-Team he and his family are stunned by these charges. However, there is some positive news for ward in this federal indictment.
The charges are very serious -- two counts, distribution of child pornography and one count, receipt of child porn. Each charge carries a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, but if convicted, Bernie Ward would probably serve much less time.

Former prosecutor, Dean Johnson, is ABC7's legal analyst.

"As a practical matter, this type of crime calls for a guideline sentence of anywhere from about 24 to 30 months, giving him the best case scenario," says Johnson.
"The one thing Bernie is not is a child pornographer. He's not a child molester," says Jeannette Boudreau, Bernie Ward's agent.

Ward's agent told the I-Team last night the talk show host was working on a book, exploring the subculture of child porn on the Internet, and that ward admits trading pictures with other people he met online.

Dan Noyes: "Was that a mistake in your mind?"
Jeannette Boudreau: "Apparently it was, because it apparently violated the law. So, I would say it was, I mean, when you think about the law, a journalist doing research into that area, can't really -- he's pretty hamstrung, he can't do the research, see the images, if he does, he's violated federal law. He could be charged with that."
Ward told SFGate.com last night, "I'd like to say what this is not. It's not child abuse. It wasn't solicitation. I wasn't part of any ring. Most importantly, there was nothing on my computer. None of this was for titillation or entertainment."

The indictment lists a narrow window of time in which Ward accessed and traded child porn -- December 23rd, 2004 and January 1st through the 13th, 2005.

Dean Johnson says that's good news for Ward.

"The timeframe in my mind really gives credence to what Mr. Ward said about this being an isolated incident, that it wasn't motivated by any desire to possess child pornography or exploit children, but rather that he was researching a book or whatever he claimed," says Johnson.

Johnson says child porn is similar to illegal drugs in one way -- just possessing it is a crime, no matter what your intention. We'll see how this plays out.

Also today, Bernie Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg, announced from Los Angeles that he's taking on another high profile client, Phil Spector and his retrial on murder charges.

[Logan13]

December 12, 2007 -- Looks like the Feds are saying he trafficked in kiddie porn on only a few days. Fits the profile of a researcher more than a habitual devote of porn.

Nevertheless, the law says you can't have any, and he had some. If he's actually got a book in progress where he's using the material, and it looks like he's not into kiddie porn, what would suppose the proper punishment should be?





http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...eam&id=5821709

Judge unseals indictment against Bernie Ward

Friday, December 07, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco has unsealed the indictment against KGO Radio talk show host, Bernie Ward, on child pornography charges.

The I-Team has learned the case against Bernie Ward began with a complaint to police in the Central Valley town of Oakdale. They quickly sent it to the FBI. Several people who are close to Bernie Ward tell the I-Team he and his family are stunned by these charges. However, there is some positive news for ward in this federal indictment.
The charges are very serious -- two counts, distribution of child pornography and one count, receipt of child porn. Each charge carries a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, but if convicted, Bernie Ward would probably serve much less time.

Former prosecutor, Dean Johnson, is ABC7's legal analyst.

"As a practical matter, this type of crime calls for a guideline sentence of anywhere from about 24 to 30 months, giving him the best case scenario," says Johnson.
"The one thing Bernie is not is a child pornographer. He's not a child molester," says Jeannette Boudreau, Bernie Ward's agent.

Ward's agent told the I-Team last night the talk show host was working on a book, exploring the subculture of child porn on the Internet, and that ward admits trading pictures with other people he met online.

Dan Noyes: "Was that a mistake in your mind?"
Jeannette Boudreau: "Apparently it was, because it apparently violated the law. So, I would say it was, I mean, when you think about the law, a journalist doing research into that area, can't really -- he's pretty hamstrung, he can't do the research, see the images, if he does, he's violated federal law. He could be charged with that."
Ward told SFGate.com last night, "I'd like to say what this is not. It's not child abuse. It wasn't solicitation. I wasn't part of any ring. Most importantly, there was nothing on my computer. None of this was for titillation or entertainment."

The indictment lists a narrow window of time in which Ward accessed and traded child porn -- December 23rd, 2004 and January 1st through the 13th, 2005.

Dean Johnson says that's good news for Ward.

"The timeframe in my mind really gives credence to what Mr. Ward said about this being an isolated incident, that it wasn't motivated by any desire to possess child pornography or exploit children, but rather that he was researching a book or whatever he claimed," says Johnson.

Johnson says child porn is similar to illegal drugs in one way -- just possessing it is a crime, no matter what your intention. We'll see how this plays out.

Also today, Bernie Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg, announced from Los Angeles that he's taking on another high profile client, Phil Spector and his retrial on murder charges.

What interest does he have in child porn on the net anyway? Who the hell would buy a book about this besides child molesters? If he were caught with crack and just happened to be writting a book about crack, would you excuse that as well? If he wanted to write a book on the subject, why didn't he interview the authorities....the ones who actually go after these people. The FBI does have a child porn division. I think that he just another poser that got caught.