KGO's Bernie Ward Nailed In Child Porn Bust
*** First Reported By The Radio Equalizer ***
*** Update Via Drudge: Lawyer Blames Bush! ***
*** Attempts To Update Ward's Wikipedia Entry Being Undone! ***
*** HuffPo Commenters Go Conspiratorial - See Below ***
In a shocking development from San Francisco, longtime liberal talk show host Bernie Ward has apparently been indicted on charges related to child pornography, according to several sources in Baghdad-By-The-Bay.
Your Radio Equalizer has learned that Ward, a married father of four, could face up to five years in prison if convicted on each of the two counts. The allegations include both possessing and forwarding child porn.
The onetime seminarian and frequent cable talk show guest was to be arraigned earlier today, photographed and fingerprinted. He was expected to plead not guilty to the charges.
As of yet, a request for information from the US Attorney's office in San Francisco has not met with a response.
Disgusting.
It gets better, check out the link to Huffy-post where they're crying "conspiracy!"
Holy S---! Bernie of all people. From what I have read so far this prosecution stinks. What a novel way to remove one of the most vocal and credible voices against this corrupt administration from the air. Even if proven false the stigma this will carry may silence him. Just the fact that he has been indicted will turn many against him, no matter what the facts are. If this is a malicious prosecution being used to silence him, then anyone who raises their voice in opposition should be very afraid.
And we also see, once again, how it's Bush's fault.
Disgusting.
Once and Always, an American Fighting Man
[Update-] San Francisco Chronicle reports what Ward's attorney says:
Ward's attorney said today that the charges are based on incidents that occurred more than four years ago and were part of research for a book.
"As everybody knows, Bernie, for over 20 years, has been a progressive, opposed to insensitive authority - he has been a champion of charities, nonprofits for the homeless," said Doron Weinberg, who appeared in federal court today as Ward's lawyer.
"More than three years ago, Bernie was doing research for a book he was doing on hypocrisy in America," Weinberg said.
As part of the research, Ward downloaded "a few images" of child pornography, and, Weinberg said, "it came to the attention of the government in late 2004."
"They investigated and they never found any involvement in child pornography other than this period that he accessed these images," Weinberg said. "The government knows that Bernie was doing this for an investigation he was doing for a book. But the government believes he violated the letter of the law and they have gone ahead and prosecuted him."
Weinberg stressed that "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," the lawyer said.
If, indeed, this stems from something that occurred more than 3 years ago, and he was arrested today, then that implies, contrary to Huffpo's "theory", that this has been an ongoing investigation that provided the evidence necessary to just now arrest him. [End Update]
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