SAN FRANCISCO — Bernie Ward, one of the Bay Area’s most prominent radio talk show hosts for 15 years, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison by a federal judge today for distributing child pornography on the Internet.
Ward, 57, pleaded guilty to the felony charge in May and admitted sending between 15 and 150 pornographic images by e-mail, which he maintained were for a research project. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco imposed a sentence of seven years and three months, rejecting a defense plea for the minimum five-year term required by federal law. Prosecutors had sought a nine-year term.
Noting Ward’s background as a former Roman Catholic priest who discussed child molestation in the church on his radio programs, the judge said he was troubled that Ward didn’t “seek treatment, seek help” when he “encountered his own predilection” for child pornography.
Ward’s sentence could be reduced by about a year for good behavior in prison. After his release, he will be required for the rest of his life to register with police as a sex offender.
Walker said he would go along with a defense request that Ward serve his time in the minimum-security prison in Lompoc (Santa Barbara County). Prosecutors did not object. The judge gave Ward until noon Friday to turn himself in to federal marshals.
Ward, wearing a blue sport jacket, khaki pants and a tie, spoke briefly at the sentencing hearing, telling the judge, “I regret my actions, the harm the caused my family, my friends and this community.” He said he took full responsibility for his conduct.
Ward spent 24 years with KGO-AM in San Francisco, first as a reporter and later as the host of a talk show on news and politics that ran three hours every weeknight. A former Roman Catholic priest, he also hosted “God Talk,” a Sunday morning program that discussed religious issues.
The station, which nicknamed him “the lion of the left” for his outspoken manner and liberal views, fired him in December after his federal grand jury indictment was unsealed.
Ward was charged after a woman in Oakdale (Stanislaus County) contacted police in 2005 and said an ex-priest, later identified as Ward, had been having sex chats with her by e-mail and had sent her a photo showing child pornography.
Police got a search warrant for the online account and found about 100 images showing minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, prosecutors said in court papers.
Ward’s lawyer, Doron Weinberg, described the online conversations with the woman as role-playing.
Ward has said he downloaded the images as part of his research for a proposed book on hypocrisy among Americans who preach morality. Prosecutors said they had evidence that Ward had shared graphic images of child sex with a group of 10 people for about a year.
Ward’s motive and intent were irrelevant to his guilt under federal law, which makes possessing, receiving or distributing child pornography a felony punishable by at least five years in prison.
Ward holds a master’s degree in theology and spent two years in the priesthood before leaving to get married. He worked for three years as a legislative assistant for then-Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-San Francisco, before joining KGO in 1985. He became a talk show host in 1992.