#1 Muni Driver for Complaints

It’s been a long road. We began the battle with Muni over access to its records of complaints against bus drivers about two years ago. We were just trying to gauge what passengers were experiencing on a daily basis. We even had to file a lawsuit against the city and Muni, when the bus drivers’ union got involved and tried to block our efforts.

We won that lawsuit, got the complaint records and surveillance videos to go along with them, and today, we finally name the #1 Muni bus driver in terms of complaints.

Cynthia Thompson has received 139 public complaints in three years, the most of any of the 2,000 Muni drivers. Here are some we didn’t mention on the air:

May 18, 2004: “The operator was on her cell phone from the time she boarded … until she got off.”

January 26, 2005: “She reminds me of the ‘Soup Nazi’ on Seinfeld.”

September 13, 2004: “Extremely rude and unnecessarily rude toward passengers.”

January 2, 2006: “Operator was clipping her nails while driving the bus.”

March 23, 2005: “Close doors on patron’s wrist. Patron had to pull his wrist out to avoid being dragged by the bus.”

October 3, 2005: “The rudest, most disrespectful operator this patron has ever seen.”

And those are just some of the complaints deemed “actionable” by Muni; there are many more labeled “no action”. We're also streaming some of the surveillance video featured in our report tonight: "Your Momma" and "Foot Stuck in Door".

To wrap up this story, we knew we had to speak with Thompson. The bus drivers’ union wouldn’t put us in touch with her, nor would Muni, and her name is so common, the only way to find her was to ride her line. It was an amazing coincidence. About ten minutes after an I-Team producer boarded Thompson’s bus, a young girl got her foot trapped in the bus’ door. Thompson’s response is featured in tonight’s report.

This probably wraps up our I-Team investigations into Muni … for now. We’re always looking for the next tip. Please send us an e-mail or call 1-888-40-I-Team.

Boat Crash Hearing

Two years after a horrible boat crash on Clear Lake, the criminal case is finally headed to court. We’ll be there for the preliminary hearing tomorrow at Lake County Superior Court. You may recall our past stories about the crash in which a power boat driven by the number two man in the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Russell Perdock, slammed into a sailboat, killing a woman from Willows. Prosecutors did not charge Perdock in the death, even though he admitted driving his boat 40 mph on a dark, moonless night. They charged the man who happened to be steering the sailboat at the time, Bismarck Dinius. Prosecutors say he was boating under the influence and that the sailboat’s lights were off at the time of the crash.

I’m attaching two reports from defense experts, both of whom concluded the sailboat’s lights were on at the time of the crash. They decided that after studying the filaments from the bulbs on the stern and bow lights. If the light is on, the filaments are hot and will stretch -- that's what the experts found on the sailboat's lights. If the light is off, the filaments are cold and will snap cleanly. Further, the defense experts say the proximate cause of the crash that night was the speed of the powerboat. Why didn’t the prosecution charge Chief Deputy Russell Perdock? William Chilcott, one of the defense experts, told us today, “I suspect they had a Sheriff’s officer to protect.”

Lake County Deputy District Attorney John Langan confirmed he has received the reports from the defense experts, but won’t comment on them. We’ll have more from Lakeport tomorrow at 6pm and here on the I-Team blog.

Bernie Ward’s “Sexfairy” Talks

In the story we're airing and posting today, Linda Figueiredo says it all started out innocently enough. She was a stay-at-home mom with three young kids, and she went looking for some excitement on-line. In a chat room, her friend had met a man calling himself “Vincentlio” who had expressed an interest in being dominated. Figueiredo used the name “Sexfairy” and struck up a conversation with Vincentlio with instant messaging or IM’s. She says their dominant/submissive conversations continued for two to three weeks during December 2004, and that her husband would sit on the couch next to her sometimes as she chatted away with Vincentlio on her laptop. She said they would make fun of Vincentlio.

Then, you can see in the chat transcript how it all changed. Vincentlio says he loves trading pictures. Sexfairy asks for some. He sends child pornography. Linda Figueiredo tells me she never expressed an interest in children with Vincentlio, and the photograph surprised her and made her physically ill. After she called police, they told her to keep chatting with Vincentlio to help build the case. It was very difficult – it was the Christmas season, after all. Figueiredo recounts Christmas Eve as her daughters asked her to track Santa using a website. As she tracked Santa, up popped an IM from Bernie Ward. She had to bounce back and forth from being a mother … to helping police in a child porn case.
Only after the police sent the case to the FBI did Figueiredo find out Vincentlio was, in fact, KGO Radio host Bernie Ward. Now, she has no regrets that Ward lost his career and faces years in prison. She says, “I’m just a normal girl that just tried to do the right thing. And no children should be harmed that way and no children should be taken pictures of that way. And I just had to do what I had to do.”

You can watch the entire interview here or read a transcript of it here.

Sexfairy Talks & The Transcript

This afternoon, I sat down with “Sexfairy”. That’s the screen name for the woman who received child porn from former KGO Radio host Bernie Ward and called police. Months ago, she told me she couldn’t do an interview until the trial ended and that she would speak with me, once it was over. She kept her word, and she answered all my questions. The wide-ranging interview will be the subject of an I-Team report on ABC 7 News at 6 and 11pm Thursday. But, I want to give you a flavor of our discussion. At one point, I asked her, “With your help, the police got more information, the FBI took it over, Bernie Ward’s been prosecuted, he has now pleaded guilty, he has lost his career, he’s going to prison. What do you think about that?” She answered, “I think that he needs to sit in that prison cell and I think he needs to think about what he did. What he did didn’t affect just one person, it affected those children that he had on that computer screen that are all over the internet, it affected me, I was highly stressed, it put me into a deep depression for four years. And I think he needs to sit there and I think justice has been served.”

In preparation for our reports on Thursday, we’ve decided to publish the transcript of Bernie Ward’s online chats with Sexfairy. It formed the basis of the criminal case against him and has been published in full elsewhere. You may want to reference the transcript, once you’ve seen our stories this week. I want to say this in the strongest terms possible – the transcript is graphic and should not be viewed by children.

Gov't Workers Goof Off on Wiki

Tonight's investigation showed you some of the more interesting changes local government employees made to Wikipedia. How do you feel? Should they be given some slack to pursue personal interests on the internet using computers paid for with your tax dollars, while on the clock? I'd be curious to hear your opinion.

We didn't have time in tonight's story to include all the Wiki changes made by government workers, so here are a few of our favorites that didn't make the cut.

Santa Clara County employees added the names of Latino boxers Roberto Duran, Carlos Monzon, Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar de la Hoya to a list of the sports greats; contributed six edits to an article about the Architecture of Cambodia, where they posted a photo of an ancient Buddha statue; and inserted a swear word as the middle name of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. To see all the edits from Santa Clara County for yourself, click here and here.

Movies were a favorite topic at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, from Brokeback Mountain to Superman II, but not all the comments were about plot or acting. In an article about Poison Ivy II, one employee wrote that the actress, "Alyssa Milano has some awesome t__s."

Vandalism is a common problem on Wikipedia, but inappropriate comments usually get erased quickly. When someone put the word "love" in front of every reference to "jail" on the San Francisco Sheriff Department's article, the Sheriff's Department logged on themselves to remove the changes. But the vandal persisted, repeatedly posting critical comments about the Sheriff Department's affirmative action program: "Some may say (Sheriff) Hennessey has achieved his diversity goal by hiring and promoting women and minorities who may not have been as qualified as their straight white counterparts." Rehabilitation efforts: "He's even gone as far as to teach criminals from the innercity farming skills just in case one should seek a job in the farming industry." And the canine unit: "The canine unit is basically just for "show" and has been woefully uneffective for years."

When the Sheriff's Department erased those comments, they wrote that they suspected an inside job: "Please block IP vandal...being used to repeatedly vandalize the San Francisco Sheriff's Department entry...possible disgruntled employee."

While in Oakland, one city employee celebrated the end of the work week: "Boogey boogey boo!!! Its friday!"

The Web site WikiScanner was an invaluable tool for tonight's investigation. CalTech graduate student Virgil Griffith came up with the idea after reading about Congressional staffers who got caught inflating their bosses' biographies, and slamming political opponents on Wikipedia. So, he wrote a program that takes all the publicly available data about Wikipedia edits from anonymous Internet Protocol or IP addresses, and cross-matches those records with a database of registered IP addresses, to find out who's really behind them. All you have to do is type in the name of a company, government entity, or an IP address, and you get a list of all their edits.

Griffith says he's going to release an updated version sometime this summer (right now data is only available up to mid-2007). If you have a specific IP address you want to check out in the meantime, you can enter it into Wikipedia's user contributions page for the most up to date information.

And if you discover any interesting edits with WikiScanner, or have a tip about another story we should investigate, send us an email.

I-Team Wins Emmy

The ABC 7 I-Team has picked up this year’s Emmy Award for Investigative Reporting from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Northern California Chapter. “Doc 420” exposed a former Los Angeles model/turned medical marijuana doctor with clinics up and down the state. We showed how she offered to prescribe marijuana for patients who provided little to no evidence of serious illness. You can read or watch the investigation here and check out the blog here. Thanks to Ken Miguel, Producer; Cathy Cavey, Photographer; and Lynn R Friedman, Editor.

Read Bernie’s Plea Deal

Read for yourself what Bernie Ward pleaded guilty to yesterday, and the possible sentence he faces. As we reported, it’s one count Distribution of Child Pornography. But, here are the elements of the crime.

Ward distributed the image via interstate commerce because he used AOL -- the image went from Ward’s home in San Francisco to AOL’s servers in Virginia to Sex Fairy’s computer in Oakdale, California. The image was “an actual minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.” During the on-line chat with Sex Fairy, Ward described the image as a fourteen-year-old boy, a twelve-year-old girl and young mother. The boy was naked, the girl clothed, and the mother topless -- they were all touching in a sexual way. He also confirms he sent between 15 and 150 images of child pornography, including several that “involved sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.” That’s not the idea that Ward’s supporters floated after his arrest in December -- that he had innocent images of a family in a nudist colony.

Ward also confirms he understands he may not be able to vote after his felony conviction -- another interesting twist for a radio host who was so involved in the political process.

Bernie Ward Pleads “Guilty”

“I engaged in exchanging an image of a minor engaging in sexually explicit activity.”

With those words, Bernie Ward pleaded guilty today to one count, distribution of child pornography in a deal worked out with federal prosecutors. But, the deal only goes so far – it merely allows Ward to drop two of the three counts. He still could face up to 20 years in prison, and the minimum sentence allowed under federal guidelines is 5 years. The maximum fine is $250,000. The judge granted one defense request – he agreed not to accept Ward’s plea until the sentencing date on August 28th. Otherwise, Ward would have been taken into custody today. Defense attorney Doron Weinberg told the judge arrangements had to be made because of Ward’s health – he’s a diabetic who uses a machine at night to combat severe sleep apnea. Weinberg also said Ward wanted to attend the high school graduation of his youngest of four children.

About the crime, Weinberg told the judge, “We believe it resulted from an error of judgment, not sexual proclivities.” All along, Ward claimed he traded child pornography as part of research for a book. Inside court, I thought that Bernie Ward was remarkably composed. He chatted with his friends and supporters. Two monks in brown robes sat in the row with him. Ward appeared to have lost some weight, and sported a well-fitting suit. He answered the judge calmly.

*** NEW INFO: I wanted to give you a passage from the Department of Justice Press Release on the case. "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." ***

On the way out of the federal court building, I faced a difficult situation – what do you ask someone who just pleaded guilty to this crime? Not just any defendant. He was a fellow investigative reporter who covered the crisis in the Catholic Church, as did I. We worked out of the same building, albeit for different companies for the past year. I appeared on his show a few times to discuss my investigations. What could I ask him? The best I could come up with: “Bernie, any thoughts for us?” I think his answer would surprise many of his former listeners: “No.” I’d bet good money we’ll hear him as a guest on KGO radio, at some point this summer.

About tonight's investigation – I explore the conditions under which Bernie Ward left the priesthood. "Father Bernie" played a central role in his on-air persona, especially on his Sunday morning program "God Talk". I've confirmed two complaints against Ward for sexual misconduct when he was a 27-year-old priest. The two alleged victims were sixteen and seventeen-year-old students at Santa Rosa's Ursuline High School, where Ward taught. His lawyer says he was cleared of all allegations, and left the priesthood on his own.

Ward to Change "Not Guilty" Plea

The ABC 7 I-Team has confirmed Bernie Ward will change his “not guilty” plea to child pornography charges tomorrow afternoon in Federal Court. Ward’s attorney, Doron Weinberg, would not tell us exactly what his plea will be, but Ward has two options – “guilty” or “no contest”. ABC 7 Legal Analyst Dean Johnson explains, on the criminal side, they have the same result – the judge writes down “guilty”. A “no contest” plea helps Ward if there were a civil suit; it’s not an admission of liability.

After Ward’s appearance tomorrow, he will have to report to the Probation Department, which will prepare a pre-sentencing report. He’ll have to return to court for sentencing at a later date.

Dean Johnson says, unless Ward and his attorney have been able to strike some extraordinary deal with prosecutors, the minimum prison sentence Ward will get under federal guidelines is 5 years in a federal institution. With credit for time served, Johnson says Ward will actually be in prison for more than 4 years. Once he gets out, he will have to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law for the rest of his life.

All this comes as we’re wrapping up our investigation into Ward’s time as a Catholic priest. We’ll have that story Thursday at 6 p.m., along with the latest from Federal Court.

*** UPDATE FROM DAN AT 12:02PM: KGO Radio is quoting an unnamed close friend of Ward: "Bernie has decided to plead guilty ... (he) says he decided to plead guilty on the advice of his attorneys." ***

Related Bernie Ward stories:

Inside Bernie Ward's online chats

Judge unseals indictment against Bernie Ward

I-Team blog: Bernie Ward and "Sexfairy"

I-Team blog: Ward fired -- for now

I-Team blog: Ward indicted on child porn

I-Team blog: Ward indictment unsealed

Egg Investigation Catches On

It’s been two-and-a-half years since our first investigation into Gemperle Enterprises. Then, an activist snuck into the company’s Central Valley egg farms overnight and shot video of the battery cages and the toll they take on the hens. That report got a lot of attention (it led to changes at Gemperle customers Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods), but this week’s report is getting more – probably for several reasons. First, this time, an activist actually got a job at Gemperle and videotaped workers treating hens roughly. Today, the California Egg and Poultry Association put out a news releases saying, “Let us state strongly that we condemn many of the graphic images and activities depicted in this film. Such images and actions are inconsistent, out of practice, and in violation of our high standards for animal welfare.” You can read the complete news release here.

The second reason – the video shot by the undercover activist is part of a campaign by Mercy For Animals and the Humane Society of the United States before the November election. Californians will be voting on the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act which would ban battery cages, along with gestation crates for pigs and veal crates. HSUS brings funding and strategic planning to the efforts of the relatively small non-profit group, Mercy For Animals.

Speaking of funding, Nu-Cal Foods – the largest egg distributor in the Western United States, partly owned by Gemperle – is one of the biggest contributors to the campaign against the ballot initiative. They’ve spent more than $120,000, second only to United Egg Producers, the national trade group.

I also wanted to point out a new study just published by a prestigious group of researchers, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. The panel recommended a phase-out of battery cages, and concluded factory farms pose unacceptable risks to the public health, environment and animal welfare.