Posted on 01/26/2008 8:45:51 PM PST by LdSentinal
SAN FRANCISCO -- Former radio talk show host Bernie Ward was given a date of June 9 in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday for a trial on charges of receiving and distributing child pornography on his computer.
The trial date was set by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who also scheduled a hearing on pretrial motions for April 24.
Ward, 56, a former host on KGO radio in San Francisco, is accused of three counts of receiving child pornography, knowingly distributing it and attempting to distribute it in December 2004 and January 2005.
His defense attorney, Doron Weinberg, has contended the case stems from an "error of judgment" made by Ward when he spent a few days looking at pornography images and exchanging images with other adults when doing research for a book on hypocrisy.
Outside of court on Thursday, Weinberg said he is looking into two areas of possible pretrial motions that might challenge the charges.
One area is whether there is a First Amendment or journalistic research exception to prosecution under criminal pornography laws, Weinberg said.
The second area is whether federal laws setting penalties for Internet child pornography are arbitrary and unfair, the attorney said.
Weinberg said that while pornography possession carries penalties as low as no time in prison, the charges of receiving and distributing child pornography each carry a mandatory five-year sentence upon conviction.
Weinberg said, "We're deeply disappointed" that U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors chose to level charges carrying the "most serious and harshest" penalty.
The defense attorney contended, "The government has seized a moment in someone's life and treated him as though he were a lifelong predator, when even at worst he was someone who was involved for a matter of days."
Ward said in the hallway of the Federal Building courthouse that his current contract with KGO was terminated on Dec. 31, but that he and his agent are negotiating for a new contract and hope he will eventually return to the air.
Ward, a former Catholic priest who is married and has four children, previously hosted a nighttime 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. show Monday through Friday and a Sunday morning show called Godtalk on KGO.
He was charged in an indictment that was issued under seal in September and unsealed on Dec. 7, the day after he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Typical Dim. Self first.
How come I never heard about this!
Creepy!
They highlight his being a former priest, but he hates the Catholic church, he is a disgusting far left wing pile of garbabge.
Dang. If Larry Craig had used that excuse, his "wide stance" wouldn't be public knowledge. Send his sorry ass to prison for 50 years and then ask him how he's doing.
Cue the ACLU.
Exactly!!!
The part about exchanging images is news to me. I don't remember his lawyer acknowledging that back when the story first broke.
Seems harder to square with the just-doing-research explanation.
If only priests could marry, they would have a healthy sexual outlet. I’ve heard Ward’s self-righteous, ultralib anti-religious ‘Godtalk’ - his hate-spewing oracle of blasphemous codswallop. I think he was once in seminary, but not sure he actually took final vows. There’s more to this than meets the eye else KGO’s legal staff would’ve gotten it swept under the rug.
Duh! Because he's a liberal, and besides, there are no such thing as sex crimes in San Francisco - just epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases
That bag of scum should know all about hypocrisy. He was a no talent talk show host in sacramento, followed rush after rush's local show, was a puke then, is one still.
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That’s not quite it, with respect.
The Priesthood, like the teaching profession, is “targetted” by paedophiles because people in such jobs have increased access to children. That’s really all there is to it.
I think I'll "do research" on meth and go buy some and possess it.
And then I'll "do research" on some heroin and go buy and possess some. In the name of research, don'tcha know.
After that I'll go "do research" on a myriad of other ILLEGAL ITEMS and then when the cops descend on my home I'll just claim I was "doing research".
“If only priests could marry. . .”
Ward is married with four kids, so I don’t think a “sexual outlet” was the problem.
Bet this story disappears tomorrow.
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