LIVE blog from Ward sentencing

By Dan Noyes

11:40 am: Ward has until noon Friday to surrender to federal marshals.

11:26 am: Sentenced to 87 months

11:24 am: Ward told probation officer he was abused as a youngster from the fifth to seventh grade.

11:19 am: Ward speaks..." I take full responsibility. "

11:11 am: Prosecutor Steve Grocki: "he traded in the currency of human suffering, of children’s' suffering."

11:00 am: Ward's attorney says "this is one of the saddest, if not the saddest day of my career" and pleads for five year sentence.

10:57 am: Judge decides use of computer should be enhancement.

10:50 am: Defense now arguing Ward's use of computer should not add additional time to Ward's sentence, as prosecution argues.

10:48 am: Just spent several minutes discussing I-Team report about complaints when Ward was priest. Judge decides while they may go to character, the events happened too long ago to be relevant to sentencing.

10:46 am: Judge just officially accepted Ward's guilty plea. Discussing sentencing score.

10:37 am: More security than at last court appearance

10:33 am: Ward just walked into court with wife and three of their children. Hugged special friends. He's sitting in the third row. Wife and children in front row.

10:20 am: Court room opens

10:04 am: Ward arrived at 9:40 am. As he got out of the family SUV, his daughter hugged him and his wife and three of his four kids accompanied him into the federal building. Ward was stone-faced and didn't answer when I asked him, "Bernie, any words for your fans and supporters?"

Comments

[James L]

I have been listening to KGO all day and into the night about what is going on with Bernie Ward.

I have to tell you that I have never in my life heard such malarkey from people that call themselves talk show hosts. Even Christine, who says she is an attorney, can’t get the right take on this one.

First off Bernie Ward did nothing illegal! So, why is he going to prison?

Don’t be so shocked by what I am saying. PLEASE read on for one minute and I will prove my point.

If Bernie had committed a crime based on a law that made what he did illegal then 101 people would have been prosecuted - not one.

By virtue of the fact that the Feds are “not” prosecuting 101 people they are saying that it is perfectly legal to do what Bernie did. They are in fact prosecuting Bernie for a crime he could not have committed because there is no law against it - according to the federal government. Ok, if there were laws against it would we not expect them to prosecute everyone. If the are actually federal prosecutors would they not KNOW that they should prosecute everyone?

The Feds are in fact saying to the citizens of this country that the law does not apply to everyone. Therefore how can it be law? Yes, it is on the books as a law but is it a law in fact?

To give you an analogy (please bare with me) by doing what they are doing the federal government is in essence giving my wife permission to kill me and get away with it. I am not a high profile personality. So, based on the way the “feds” prosecute illegal activity, my wife, if she did kill me, would not even be considered for prosecution. Maybe someone else’s wife would if “he” were high profile.

What they are in fact telling those that would do (or are doing) what Bernie did is - go for it - do it – because we won’t come after you unless you are a radio or TV personality or someone who is high profile, like a Politian we don’t like – Clinton for instance - or a talk show host that is on the left like Bernie while a “wrong wing” administration is in office.

(Wish some talk show hosts had the guts the call them by their real name – “wrong wingers” – rather then giving them credit for something they don’t deserve – being “Right” Wing )

The only times that I can think of , off the top of my head, that this type of pointed persecution has taken place is during the Spanish inquisition, the Bolshevik uprising, under Nazism and now in the US during this anti-terror champagne.

So, in my opinion if the Feds think this is the law they need to treat is as one. The need to prosecute 101 people so that everyone knows that this law applies to all citizens of this country not just a few they don’t like. Otherwise, let Bernie Ward go.

Ok, I won’t go on but, could someone call for a minor uprising. Could we at least call for march against the Feds for allowing and even encouraging this type of illegal activity to go on by their thoughtless persecution of one person as if he were the Mafioso ring leader and therefore this one persecution will get everyone else to stop. Give me a break. Only a moron would think that this works. The mafia is still there today. It didn’t work with them and this persecution won’t handle the child porn scene. They know it. So why are they doing it?

Do they really think the general public is that stupid that they don’t know it what they are doing? Do they really think that talk show hosts are stupid enough to let them get away with this? If no one steps up to the plate and tells them otherwise they will sure as heck think the public is as gullible as a 4 year old.

Thank you for your time.

[Robert]

I wonder of those who were married in the mass marriages he performed can sleep at night knowing what kind of person performed their services. He was rude to nearly every caller, the self-serving phony, hypocritical bastard. I hope he gets it regularly from behind during his stay in prison.

[sfnative]

and I can't believe, James L, that neither you nor Christine Craft read The Merc story by Howard Mintz so poorly (or not at all) that you missed the reference to the "over 2100" prosecutions in last year for this very crime. (Yes, it's a crime to send such photos. Read the law.) Several of these prosecutions were here in the Bay Area, & included men in BW's age bracket who also had professional jobs of various types. (The others weren't talk-show hosts with a political viewpoint.)

If I ever march in the streets it will be to protest ignorance.

[John]

It's sad that Bernie did this to his family and to himself. However, he deserves to be punished (but definetely not like some of these posters suggest). A lot of stone throwers here. Bernie needs some jailtime to seperate himself from child porn and then he needs a counselor. One day, I hope he is able to overcome his problem.

[James L]

NO I didn't read The Merc story by Howard Mintz. Thank you for the enlightenment. I am surprised that this never came up When Christine and other were on the air. I will check out the story to see if what you say in fact correct.

Was he making reference to the 100 others that were also caught doing this type of thing in the Bernie Ward investigation?

If the others caught in this net for this type of behavior have been prosecuted I stand corrected.

Bernie and the others definitely deserve to do time.

[wane]

He's going to the fed's so the freak won't go to S.Q, as that's one of the state's reception centers. I just hope big Rosco will touch up that prune on a regular basis.

[wane]

miker, your a real piece of work,you have to be like bernie to come off with that BS.

[Kelly O'Hara]

Bernie did help the homeless and the poor but Bernie is a criminal.

There is NO excuse for having pictures of 3-6 year old girls.

I am surprised with his wife. Very odd couple.

[but_ward]

He's a sick dude. I feel kinda sorry for him now that it's all over. Nah, he was such a fascist on KGO...

[John]

I think that prosecuting a case like this actually encourages abuse of children because it fails to see the distinction between degrees of abuse.

Why not just assault a child on the street if someone is going to go away for seven years for trading a photograph?

How does this make us all safer? Not only am I not convinced - but, I am troubled that people are not asking the obvious questions about this.

As the judge said in this case, I think that this is something that is not dealt with well by incarceration.

[Rev. Dan Karl]

When I lived in Santa Cruz in the 80's and early 90's I lisened to Bernie Ward on KGO every Sunday morning and when he was on KGO in the evings as a talk show host. Bernie will come out OK from all this. "After all" None of us on Earth is purfect. I regard Bernie Ward a true Warrior for God. In 7 years he may be back on KGO and doing "God Talk" again.

Thanks Rev. Dan

Salt Lake City, Ut.

[Karl]

The liberal voice of SF enjoys looking at pictures of babies being raped. Big surprise!!!!

[John]

The judge agreed to allow Bernie serve his time at Lompoc, a low secruity facility in Santa Barbara County. Read the 2007 description (filtering out the political verbage) of Lompoc written by a previous inmate:

http://breakallchains.blogspot.com/2007/01/tony-serras-letter-from-prison.html

[sfnative]

John, I also read that article recently. I find it interesting that Serra has returned there. (I had forgotten.) I'm sure that he & BW will strike up a friendship, as Serra is ultra liberal to radical -- same worldview as BW.

[glad he never taught me]

Bernie Ward taught at St. Victors elementary school in the 1970's and Bellarmine College Prep in the 70's and early 80's. Hope those the kids he taught are untouched. Someone like this should never be allowed around children.

[John]

I went to Bellarmine in the 80's. I didn't have BW, but I was a student of his brother. If you aren't aware, Bellarmine is an all male Catholic high school. . . You really have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. BW's brother - and his family, rightly, revere him. This is an absolute tragedy.

There is a sadism in the comments that people make here that is disquieting. Yet, this very discussion makes an issue clear: most people would not like to be judged closely based on their own activity on the internet. That is not a defense of BW's actions. It is an attack on the hypocrisy of those who are utterly irresponsible about their anonymous, abusive comments when there is no one to check their behavior.

If we are to learn anything from this horrendous tragedy, it must be that what we say when we believe we are anonymous DOES matter.

John

[sfnative]

John, if Bernie's family still "reveres" him, then I have not much respect for them. I would not revere a family member that engaged in such activity for more than half a second. Nor would I revere a family member who was so verbally abuse to callers & so disrespectful of other human beings -- he who preached that love for others was the only essential Christian value. Combined with his wife's confusion & self-deception about just what he was being prosecuted for (not for being a Democrat), I have less respect every day for his family. It's one thing to make a show of support by standing next to someone in Court. It's another to blame the gov't or to say that you "revere" someone who has ADMITTED engaging in child pron, ADMITTING "doing very bad things," etc.

[paleface]

I too have listened to BW's KGO shows for many years and grew to like him - not agree with him.
I will take issue with Rev Dan. BW's God talk as well as his holy donut church was nothing more than a mockery of Catholics.
Proving the Pope wrong was a passion of his. The donut, the belly and the ego - all very synonomous here.
He was a man who did not know how to pray and said so.
I have always believed that he really was athiest underneath it all - he has never admitted it that I know of - it is consistent with the marxist rhetoric that regularly came out of his mouth.
Bernie despised our constitution and openly stated how he would change it many times - the ego was so large that he had more wisdom than our founding fathers combined.
When I wanted to keep abreast on the current commie thinking he was the one of several persons to listen to. It's called - know your enemy -.
I was really suprised when I learned about his crime. I feel sorry for his victims and family.
I also feel sorry for BW, but he really needs to serve his time. Hope he suffers as did his victims and family.
If he ever comes back on KGO it will be the last time I listen to that station.

[Don Parvex]

What a joke. This pig..should rot in prison for at least 10 straight years, with no time off for "good behavior". Anyone who tries to justify this kind of behavior, is not only sick in the head, they obviously do not value the rights of the innocent children who unfortunately have to carry the weight of this abuse the rest of their lives. Talk about a "life-sentence" why don't the supporters of Bernie Ward interview the "survivors" of child abuse and see how they have to live with this the rest of their lives. Screw you Bernie..good luck in prison, you piece of garbage.

[John]

This whole matter should have been dealt with privately by the gutless dominatrix, who, instead of running to the police like a spoiled child, should have seen that BW was in trouble, abandoned the roll playing, and offered him some human assistance.

Until people learn to handle the dark and aggressive aspects of human sexuality with humanity rather than panic, we are doomed to be controlled by grown-up children.

[sfnative]

I agree with paleface in these 2 respects:
It was really sad that Bernie was unable to pray. (But sadder, to me, that he expressed no interest in developing a prayer life.) He had an extremely limited view of Catholicism & Christianity, & was especially unschooled (despite his theology degree) in Biblical Studies. He made all kinds of assertions about NT and OT passages that betrayed a lack of understanding about how the text works & what the message(s) were & were not.
#2: The last comment: if he ever comes back on KGO, I become a non-listener.

[John]

sfnative:

It goes without saying that I believe your view to be insensitive to the terrible tragedy that Bernie Ward's family is undergoing. At least you show more moderation in your opinion than others.

BW was revered by the students at Bellarmine I knew personally - because he showed such unflagging care and commitment for their education. He made one very large mistake. I just don't think that this takes away from the good that this man did day in and day out for thirty years.

As a Catholic, it seems that one would be saying, perhaps not with regard to the kind of crime, but about the larger Fall, "There, but for the grace of God go I". All of us are weak - and it is really only because of a grace we don't deserve that we have any chance at all.

The fact is that Bernie is being severely punished. 87 months in prison. A ruined career and reputation. The chance to be a father to his children ended. I don't begrudge his family for being upset and irrational about this whole thing. They know Bernie's deep compassion and selflessness. People have different responses to tragedy - and, believe me, this is a tragedy.

I think that it is very unkind to judge the family at this particular hour. Remember, they aren't the ones who did anything wrong.

John (from Oregon)

[sfnative]

John, I appreciate your civility in criticizing me, but I disagree that I am "insensitive." I think two things are happening: I think, unless you've been a faithful listener of both of his shows over the many years (as some of us have), you have missed much of what others have noticed, & in much harsher tones than myself. His intolerance & his verbal brutality to callers (including on the Godtalk show) came to be virtually his identity, overshadowing to many of us even the points of view he espoused. When your message gets dwarfed by your manner, you have a problem keeping the respect that you might have had. So regardless of whatever "commitment" (to students) he showed as a high school, as a radio host he became increasingly committed to his political viewpoints, at the expense of a commitment to integrity of debate, at the expense of a commitment to respect for others, at the expense of a commitment to actually preparing his shows, & often even at the expense of truth. Thousands of us continued to listen, despite his offensive & obnoxious manner, because we thought a "liberal voice" on the radio was important. In the meantime he was engaging in depraved behavior, & now we feel just outraged, used, betrayed, & manipulated on top of everything else. He chose a commitment to ego and to a self-indulgent, secretive lifestyle over his commitment to his job. And these years in radio far exceeded his time at Bellarmine.

Point Two: I (& many other people who have commented on blogs)have a different ethos than he does. He said on-air that he would never turn a family member in for a crime, no matter how big the crime, how potentially evil the act. He said that family comes before everything -- including, apparently, morality. I flatly disagree, but apparently his family has bought the same viewpoint. If I had similar evidence about a family member that BW's family *now* has, I would not "revere" that family member. (I have a Black Sheep in my family; we mourn for him & have tried desperately to help him, but we don't "revere" him.) I would not give up on the member, I would write to the judge & ask for compassion, but I would not deny that my family member engaged in those obvious actions, nor would I blame the opposing political party. (!)

[sfnative]

...and another thing: The Black Sheep in my family did an exceeding amount of good -- in fact public good. That's just in case you're going to bring up BW's charity drives. My family member was largely, if not solely, responsible for saving, with very little pay, a major natural resource in the state. He was once very 'revered' by environmentalists. But none of that excuses or reduces what he has done since then. If I made an argument to a judge that the law should excuse him because of previous good deeds, or if I said that his predicament was caused by some conspiracy of anti-environmentalists, the public would be justified in losing respect for me.

The part that I agree with you about is that our criminal punishments are major messed up. If there were a confining sentence that were more directly related to his long-term psychological rehabilitation, combined with his education about the dark world of forced (which it is) child pornography & volunteer work in that area, combined with a future that prevented him from profiting from any "spin" about his arrest, conviction, & child pornography in general, I might support that -- depending on what those terms were. Or if house-confinement were truly enforced & truly restictive (which his has not been), I might support that, under very regulated conditions. It seems that the two options are freedom (non-punishment) or being locked up with people who will not necessarily benefit by having him there, and vice-versa. I think to give him no sentence is to reward behavior which he himself admits he knew was wrong.

[rusty]

YOU _______ ARE AS TRANSPARENT AS YOU ARE PATHETIC. YOU ____ LOSERS CAN'T STAND FOR SOMEONE TO CALL YOUR ___ OUT FOR THE SCUM YOU ARE. YOU DEFEND PIECES OF __ LIKE THIS FAT ____ PIG WARD AND THINK THAT ME CALLING HIM A FAT, DISGUSTING, LIBERAL PIECE OF ____ IS WORSE THAN HIM LOOKING AT NAKED KIDS. YOU ____ CAN ALL GO ___ YOURSELF WITH A STICK AND DROP DEAD. I HOPE THIS PUNK ____ GETS ____ BY SOME ____ WITH A 12 INCH ___ ON A DAILY BASIS. AS FOR YOU ___ WHO DELETE THIS, I THINK I'LL GO AND ___ YOUR WIFE AT LUNCH TODAY, GO ON , JUST ASK HER.