Bernie ward to change not-guilty plea
Former San Francisco talk host Bernie Ward will plead guilty to child pornography charges Thursday, according to court records.
Ward, 57, a former Catholic priest, and self-proclaimed "the lion of the left," was indicted in September by a federal grand jury on two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of receiving child porn using the Internet.
His trial is scheduled to begin in one month.
Ward engaged in sex chats with an online dominatrix and allegedly sent her pictures of children engaged in sexual activity, according to police reports.
The woman became concerned after Ward allegedly sent her pictures in December 2004 showing children "engaged in or simulating sexual acts with adults or other children," aaccording to the reports.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/301697/28866140
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Bernie ward to change not-guilty plea:
Sad...this news is especially drenching to Sparkler, who loyally carried a flame of hope. Condolences.
Posted by: Fremont | May 07, 2008 at 04:27 PM
If Bernie Ward is convicted he should be hung by his ankles, and get his fat nekkid pedophile ass whipped with a wire coathanger soaked in urine.
Posted by: abob | May 07, 2008 at 04:28 PM
"Sad...this news is especially drenching to Sparkler, who loyally carried a flame of hope. Condolences.
Posted by: Fremont | May 07, 2008 at 04:27 PM"
Actually, you should really feel sorry for the people he abused.
Posted by: PugetSound | May 07, 2008 at 05:49 PM
jeeze, no word about the groz getting the boot from his show?
Not that you talk about sports radio much, but their line up is about the most stable out there. Groz has been there for years. Interesting that they decided to yank his show and stick in a younger host.
Gas and groz will still be around but I guess groz took a huge paycut.
Posted by: sdfasd | May 07, 2008 at 06:00 PM
yep, its a sad day, but if he is guilty, then he should be found guilty. There still seems to be giant holes in all of this, and I'm curious if we will ever hear anymore details. I wonder if his lawyers and the prosecution made a deal? I doubt I will hear anything about it on KGO so I may have to stream Peter B. Collins who is a friend of his and seems to talk to him sometimes.
Really a waste of a really good radio guy. It is like finding out that John Carlson or Dave Ross was guilty of this..their public persona guaranteeing that fans would not want to believe it of them.
I hope someone at KGO continues his Feed the Homeless program at Thanksgiving. It has alwasy pulled in a lot of money for a couple of shelters who provide dinner during the holidays.
Posted by: sparky | May 07, 2008 at 06:12 PM
Sparky
Bad people can also do good things.
The giant holes will probably be ably filled in by his guilty plea.
KGO is a great station -I am a huge fan of Ronn Owens- and they perform good works in the community.
Posted by: PugetSound | May 07, 2008 at 06:19 PM
A little more on the story from the SF Channel 11 website:
Defense attorney Doron Weinberg confirmed on Wednesday that Ward is expected to change his previous not-guilty plea at the session before U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker.
But Weinberg declined to say to which charges Ward will plead and whether he will plead guilty or no contest.
In plea agreements, defendants sometimes plead guilty to fewer charges or lesser charges than those originally filed.
A no-contest plea is treated the same as a guilty plea for sentencing purposes, but can't be used as an admission of guilt in a civil lawsuit.
Weinberg said last year that the case stems from an "error of judgment" made by Ward while doing research for a book on hypocrisy.
Posted by: sparky | May 07, 2008 at 06:22 PM
That's too bad about Bernie,a true liberal, I was holding out hope that he would resume his radio career at KGO. His time slot has been taken by a woman in Christine Craft and a guy who thinks he's a woman in Karel, both are annoying.
Maybe he can blame it on the dominatrix. I don't know, somehow I can't shake the feeling that Bernie is being railroaded.
Posted by: Upton | May 07, 2008 at 06:35 PM
The big news is that current KIRO-AM ratings are above a 4 share. Rival stations KTTH and KVI ratings are barely a 2 share. Congrats to 710KIRO management and talk show hosts. You guys are kicking major ass. KIRO is by far the highest rated talk radio station in Seattle. Mike Webb would be proud.
Posted by: abob | May 07, 2008 at 06:43 PM
KGO is a great station - I like Gene Burns, Dr. Bill Wattenburg, Ronn Owens and John Rothman is generally good. They are able to mix centrists (Owens and Burns) and one conservative (Wattenburg) with liberal talk show hosts.
Dr. Wattenburg is one of the foremost authorities on alternative energy and has a wide knowledge of green energy and how the Environmentalist lobby & politicians have put us in current energy mess that we have to move out of soon, if our country is going to have a decent future.
Posted by: KS | May 07, 2008 at 07:06 PM
BREAKING NEWS: NPR FIRES HEAD HONCHO FOR BEING TOO PROGRESSIVE!!!
"Ken Stern, one of the key architects of National Public Radio's rapid growth over the past decade, was fired as chief executive yesterday following a clash with NPR's board over the direction of the organization.
People at NPR said that Stern and the organization's 17-member board clashed repeatedly over several of Stern's initiatives, including NPR's expansion into new media. Those initiatives often riled station managers, who saw them as competition and coming at the expense of serving the hundreds of public stations that pay dues annually to NPR.
NPR's board, which includes 10 members from station groups, decided to terminate Stern's contract yesterday."
===============
The head guy at NPR was canned because he wanted to expand out into new ways of reaching listeners--Webcasts, podcasts, streaming, wireless cell messenging. And liberals call themselves 'progressive?" WHAT A JOKE!!!!
Posted by: Freakin' | May 07, 2008 at 07:18 PM
Yes, KS is correct, these eco frauds who denounce me haven't been around as long as I have.
I invented the first nuclear powered bulldozer at the age of 14, then went on to draw my plans on a napkin for the super-conductor collider when I was a graduate student at Standford at the age of 17, then I solved the energy crisis in the 70's by taking black-strap molasses and converting it into fuel, but liberals running Exxon tried to have me assassinated and I backed off.
Then I took a dead rat and made fissionable energy out of it by placing it in the same pitcher my wife made sun iced-tea in. Did I tell you I have a book on jokes that I tell on the radio?
Posted by: Dr Bill | May 07, 2008 at 07:32 PM
Posted by Dr. Bill can't spell Stanford, so right out of the gate we know he is a fraud.
Next...
Posted by: KS | May 07, 2008 at 07:46 PM
As always, good catch KS. Wattenburg is good radio.
Up in Washington State we have what is called an Alfred Plea in which you basically agree that the evidence against you would convict yet are not admitting guilt. Although it does count as a three strikes felony. Wonder if Bernie could opt for that.
The deal with the nolo contendre is that courts do not have to accept a plea of nolo contendre and if Bernie is nailed with some other felonies in the future the nolo contendre can't be counted as a strike.
Anyone have information as to any victims coming forth?
Posted by: PugetSound | May 07, 2008 at 08:05 PM
Puts, did you read Joanie is now saying the Afghan War is "All about Oil".
Posted by: nevets | May 07, 2008 at 08:20 PM
"Puts, did you read Joanie is now saying the Afghan War is "All about Oil".
Posted by: nevets | May 07, 2008 at 08:20 PM"
Yeah, Joanie's a couple fries short of a Happy Meal at times. She probably got it from 'Randi.'
Hell, Joanie still believes in Carbon Offsets.
Posted by: PugetSound | May 07, 2008 at 08:25 PM
Puts
Don't you be saying that carbon offsets are not real. Do not even insinuate same. I just spent a fortune having the offsets printed so I could give them to customers with the purchase of a new RV.
Algore says that it will work. I sent him a check and everything. You better not screw this up for me. Algorbullwarming Inc says that for every buyer, I send in $23.00 and they will issue offsets. It's a good thing, right?
Posted by: chucks | May 07, 2008 at 08:43 PM
Actually, it's called an "alford" plea, which makes me wonder if there wasn't enough to convict if it's taken this long.
Posted by: J.Hova | May 07, 2008 at 09:13 PM
Sure you can afford the money, chucks? Better be careful...I hear business isn't so good lately.
sdfasd:
Groz has vacated that time slot? I can't believe it. He was the best thing KJR had going. Really the best. I know a lot of people seem to like gas but groz is a hundred times more knowledgeable.
I always turned it off when the two got together.
Gas is okay but not better than the groz.
Posted by: joanie hussein for obama | May 07, 2008 at 09:19 PM
Yes, KIRO is kicking ass! Ratings are 1/3 what they were a few years ago! They aren't even #1 in their own market! KGO has been far and away #1 in their market for 20 years despite programming changes. Oh and Mike Webb wouldn't be happy either, he's rolling in his grave knowing he was replaced by cheesy syndication, and he'd have little respect for the mess that's on from 7pm - 10pm. Plus his hatred for the Boob from Ballard lives on.
Posted by: Dave | May 08, 2008 at 12:34 AM
MY hatred fo te boob from Ballard rolls on, as I'm sure mIKE's does, as he looks on in dismay at Dori, staning right behind his chair, invisible in the ether. Dori says many lies have been told about him "on the internet". lIKE there is more than one website that bothers talking about him. "ON the internet" means Bltherwatch, which I beieve he reads frequenty, despite claiming he never looks at it. How does he know about the lies if he doesn't read us? What are te lies, Dori. He's too much of a puss to ever name us directly or say what these supposed lies are. If it was a lie told on Blatherwatch about his taking tapes of Mike Webb's more outrageous onair comments to management in hopes of getting im fired, then he sould step up and say it's a lie, since that's by far the worst claim made against him. If it was really a lie, he would have publicly denounced it by now. What are the lies Dori? Don't hide behind meaningless generalitihes.
Posted by: Tommy008 | May 08, 2008 at 08:17 AM
WHAT ARE THE LIES OF BLATHERWATCH ABOUT YOU DORI? DON'T JUST DO "HIT AND RUN" RADIO LIKE A LITTLE WEASEL! TAKE THE 008 CHALLENGE! MAN UP AND CONFRONT US! BE A MAN FOR STAR AND THE GIRLS FOR ONCE DORI! WHAT ARE THE LIES, DORI? YOU'RE THE "POLTROON OF THE AFTERNOON"!
Posted by: Tommy008 | May 08, 2008 at 08:32 AM
05-08) 15:02 PDT 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, Ward is to be sentenced Aug. 28. Weinberg said federal prosecutors intend to ask Walker to send the former talk show host to prison for nine years. Under federal law, the minimum term Ward could receive is five years.
As part of the plea agreement, two other child pornography counts against Ward will be dropped.
Ward, 57, has admitted that he downloaded and sent pornographic images of children on the Internet in 2004, but said he had been doing research for a book. Federal law, however, prohibits receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography regardless of intent.
Posted by: PeakLimiter | May 08, 2008 at 06:29 PM
Looks like Bernie will be able to write another book about life inside the prison as a convicted child pornographer.
Posted by: PugetSound | May 08, 2008 at 07:14 PM
I have read several blogs where people say that they aren't taking pleasure in Bernie's fall and upcoming sentancing, but I for one and glad they are putting this scumbag away for a long stretch at lockup Hilton. If you ever listened to this arrogant hypocrite badgering people and annointing himself the "Lion of the Left" you would agree that he deserves everything he gets for leading a filthy double life. I hope he prays to God for comfort and companionship while he's in the slammer and his prayers are answered in the name of "Big Spike" who loves chubby white boys.
Posted by: Woody Woodside | May 09, 2008 at 04:59 PM