Ivy League University Professor Busted for Child Porn, Sex with Underaged Boys
Jim Kouri, CPP
September 07, 2006
Federal agents and prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Professor Lawrence Scott Ward at his office at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday charging him with involvement with child pornography and having sex with underaged boys.
According to an affidavit, two computers and several CDs and DVDs were seized at Ward's University of Pennsylvania office on August 31. On one CD, investigators discovered more than 80 still images, many of which showed a person believed to be Ward and a boy between the ages of 14 and 15 engaged in explicit sexual activity.
Also seized was a FedEx box Ward had sent to himself which included six DVDs. They contain video showing Ward and the same boy engaged in explicit sexual activity.
According to the complaint, this defendant exploited and manipulated a child in unimaginable ways.
"When someone participates in or receives child pornography, they are inflicting injury on a child that will last a lifetime. It's our responsibility to pursue these predators, even if they leave the country, and hold them accountable," said one of the investigators.
Professor Ward, who teaches at the University's Wharton Business School, was arrested Sunday morning at a Washington, DC airport after he allegedly tried to enter the country with child pornography.
In a statement from the university released this afternoon, the school said:"We learned yesterday of the arrest of Scott Ward and the charges that were filed against him in Virginia. We have made arrangements to ensure that he will not be teaching at the Wharton School or elsewhere at the University [of Pennsylvania] this semester and he will not teach at Penn in the future."
Ward, 63, was convicted in 1999 in Montgomery County, MD for soliciting sex from an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old boy.
The renowned professor was arrested when arriving on a flight from Brazil when he was flagged by investigators in a sex-predator crackdown for having taken "excessive" trips to Thailand, a haven for sex tourism, according to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In his luggage, customs agents discovered three mini-DVDs showing the professor performing sex acts with boys who appeared to be between 14 and 16 years old, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
Agents also discovered a video on Ward's computer showing two children who appeared to be as young as 8 years old engaged in sexual activity, according to the federal affidavit.
If convicted, the professor faces a maximum sentence of 20 years with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and upon release must register as a sex offender. In addition, he may face other charges since the investigation is being characterized as "ongoing."
According to an affidavit, two computers and several CDs and DVDs were seized at Ward's University of Pennsylvania office on August 31. On one CD, investigators discovered more than 80 still images, many of which showed a person believed to be Ward and a boy between the ages of 14 and 15 engaged in explicit sexual activity.
Also seized was a FedEx box Ward had sent to himself which included six DVDs. They contain video showing Ward and the same boy engaged in explicit sexual activity.
According to the complaint, this defendant exploited and manipulated a child in unimaginable ways.
"When someone participates in or receives child pornography, they are inflicting injury on a child that will last a lifetime. It's our responsibility to pursue these predators, even if they leave the country, and hold them accountable," said one of the investigators.
Professor Ward, who teaches at the University's Wharton Business School, was arrested Sunday morning at a Washington, DC airport after he allegedly tried to enter the country with child pornography.
In a statement from the university released this afternoon, the school said:"We learned yesterday of the arrest of Scott Ward and the charges that were filed against him in Virginia. We have made arrangements to ensure that he will not be teaching at the Wharton School or elsewhere at the University [of Pennsylvania] this semester and he will not teach at Penn in the future."
Ward, 63, was convicted in 1999 in Montgomery County, MD for soliciting sex from an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old boy.
The renowned professor was arrested when arriving on a flight from Brazil when he was flagged by investigators in a sex-predator crackdown for having taken "excessive" trips to Thailand, a haven for sex tourism, according to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In his luggage, customs agents discovered three mini-DVDs showing the professor performing sex acts with boys who appeared to be between 14 and 16 years old, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
Agents also discovered a video on Ward's computer showing two children who appeared to be as young as 8 years old engaged in sexual activity, according to the federal affidavit.
If convicted, the professor faces a maximum sentence of 20 years with a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and upon release must register as a sex offender. In addition, he may face other charges since the investigation is being characterized as "ongoing."
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