FORMER TALK RADIO HOST PLEADS GUILTY TO DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Bernard V. Ward, a 57 year old AM radio station talk show personality on San Francisco-based KGO 810 NewsTalk, received images of child pornography on his computer and is also charged with two counts of knowingly distributing images of child pornography that had been mailed, shipped, and transported in interstate commerce by means of a computer.  Ward faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime term of supervised release.

Ward entered a guilty plea on May 8, 2008, in federal court in San Francisco to one count of distributing child pornography via the Internet.  According to the plea documents, Ward admitted that in December 2004, he used an online screen name to engage in an Internet chat conversation with an unknown individual also using a screen name.  During that conversation, Ward sent an image of child pornography depicting nude children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Ward also admitted that he used the same e-mail account to distribute 15 to 150 images of child pornography to other individuals.  These images involved prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, some with sadistic, masochistic or violent conduct. Ward faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison, in addition to a maximum fine of $250,000.  He is also eligible for up to a lifetime term of supervised release after he is discharged from prison.  Sentencing is scheduled for August 28, 2008.

(Washington)