Free Republic

A San Francisco radio host billed by his station as the "Lion of the Left" was sentenced yesterday to seven years of prison on a charge of e-mailing images of child pornography. Bernie Ward, a former Catholic priest who is now married with four children, hosted a Sunday radio program called "God Talk" on San Francisco-area radio station KGO-AM 810 and another program on weeknights devoted to news and politics. According to several reports, Ward earned his "Lion of the Left" nickname for his outspoken and staunchly liberal viewpoints. Ward came under FBI investigation last year after a woman with...

One of the more conspicuous silences during the whole Bernie Ward saga has been coming from KGO-Radio (810 AM), his longtime employer. Long the Bay Area's ratings king, the news-talk station has -- on the advice of its corporate parent Citadel Broadcasting says KGO president and general manager Mickey Luckoff -- suggested that its on-air talent not talk about Bernie. Not yet. "It wasn't an edict," Luckoff said Thursday, moments after Ward changed his plea to guilty to distributing child porn. "We have never, ever put restrictions on anybody here. We have never put an embargo on what people could...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bernie Ward, a prominent radio talk show host and reporter in the Bay Area for more than two decades, admitted today to distributing child pornography in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker was prepared to accept Ward's guilty plea at a hearing in San Francisco to one count of distributing child pornography, but agreed to hold off at the request of Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg. Had the guilty plea been officially submitted today, Ward could have been sent to prison immediately. Instead,...

San Francisco -- Former radio talk show host Bernie Ward, who pleaded not guilty in December to distributing and receiving child pornography via the Internet, plans to change his plea Thursday, federal court records show. Ward, 57, is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco to change his plea. He is a month away from going on trial. Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg, was unavailable for comment Tuesday night. The case against Ward began when he engaged in sex chats with an online dominatrix and allegedly sent her pictures of children engaged in sexual activity, according...

MARCH 5--The San Francisco radio host facing child pornography charges lied to federal officials about his whereabouts after investigators recently received an alert that he had violated his "electronic monitoring schedule." Bernard Ward's bail violations are mentioned in a February 28 "status memorandum" sent by a pretrial services officer to Judge Maria Elena James (the memo provided James with an account of Ward's first months under electronic monitoring). The document, a copy of which you'll find below, does not describe where Ward, 56, went on December 21, when officials discovered his bail violation. During a subsequent court hearing, Ward admitted...