The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

07 December 2007

Bernie Ward's Defense One We've Heard Many Times Before

THE TOWNSHEND DEFENSE

For Crimes Against Children, Defendants Use Same Excuses





*** NEW: INDICTMENT UNSEALED BY JUDGE ***


If tonight's breaking news story about indicted San Francisco libtalker Bernie Ward had a familiar ring to it, it's because we've heard this one before.

Let's call it the Townshend Defense, after The Who frontman who famously used the very excuse now cited by KGO's Ward in 2003. Gee, there sure are a lot of these guys conducting research, aren't there?

It's similar to the Twinkie Defense, but without the resulting cavities.

Here's a quick comparison, first from the San Francisco Chronicle regarding Ward's case:


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.


Now, from IMDB, regarding Who guitarist Townshend's arrest in 2003:


British rocker Pete Townshend has been arrested by police on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. The 57-year-old The Who rocker is being held in custody in London. Townshend invited police to his house in the city today, after admitting researching child pornography on the internet to research a book he is writing about his own experiences with child abuse. He believes he was sexually molested during childhood.

After searching his house in Richmond, south west London, the guitarist was arrested. A police spokesman says, "He has been arrested under the Protection of Children Act 1978 on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, suspicion of making indecent images of children and on suspicion of incitement to distribute indecent images of children."

Townshend's friends and family this weekend spoke out in support of the star - who came forward on Saturday, after a newspaper reported that an unnamed rock star was being investigated by police as part of a massive child pornography inquiry. The Who bandmate Roger Daltrey says, "Pete was very angry about how easy it was to get hold of child pornography on the Internet. My gut instinct is that he is not a pedophile and I know him better than most."


And from the Boston Globe in 2006, here's the story of a local selectman caught up in a police sting:


PLYMOUTH -- A newly elected Plymouth selectman was arraigned on charges of soliciting sex from minors on the Internet after he was arrested along with 10 other people in a far-reaching sting operation.

In what was dubbed Operation Trenchcoat, local police, federal officials, and state investigators prowled cyberspace for predators during a two-month probe. One of the men they found soliciting sex from police officers who posed as teenage girls was Sean Dodgson, 45, a selectman who beat his opponent by 100 votes in last year's election.

...

Dodgson later told investigators that he knew he was talking to undercover officers and that he was just conducting his own investigation to see how a police sting works. Law enforcement officials said they do not believe that explanation.


The pattern is clear: when caught, claim you're "investigating" or "researching" child porn or undercover sting operations, for lack of a better excuse. Isn't it amazing to think some people think the rest of us are this stupid?


Meanwhile, a radio insider writes your Radio Equalizer with these terrific questions that the mainstream media has so far missed:


The published accounts still beg these unaddressed questions:

1. Was Bernie fired -- yes or no?

2. How did he plead in court?

3. IF there was a plea deal, what is it?

4. And what is he facing without the plea deal?


We'll be "investigating" this story as it develops. In the meantime, your Radio Equalizer wonders how Townshend feels about having his excuse stolen.


FOR New England regional talk radio updates, see our other site.

Your Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately purchase, help to further this site's efforts.

Support this site!
Please contribute at the Honor System box to the right. Thanks again!


Technorati tags:

Bottom Ward image: AP

7 Comments:

  • If Bernie Ward was researching for a book 4 years ago, a manuscript for the book should be available by now and would provide proof that that is truly what was happening. This should readily clear him. If no manuscript exists, the charges may well be valid.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 07 December, 2007 02:21  

  • The FBI has been watching Bernie since 2004. Bernie and lawyers have been trying to convince them not to prosecute since then. Me thinks that the evidence is substantial if they are deciding to go ahead after all of this time. They probably think they have an air tight case despite Bernie's hiring of all those expensive lawyers. Apparently Bernie e mailed some of those images to other pedo...I mean "fellow researchers". This should be interesting!

    I see Bernie was a Catholic priest at one time. Well that explains a lot, doesn't it?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 07 December, 2007 11:30  

  • "I see Bernie was a Catholic priest at one time. Well that explains a lot, doesn't it?"

    Does it, Bubba?

    What exactly does it explain?

    By Blogger hashfanatic, at 07 December, 2007 16:56  

  • Political affiliation has nothing to do with the mental illness of pedophilia -- except it is liberals who want to sexualize our children. But were this a conservative, the liberals would be howling like a pack of cannibals, frantic to eat their pound of flesh. It should be interesting to see (once again) how the left reacts when given a dose of their own medicine.

    By Blogger Lone Ranger, at 07 December, 2007 18:46  

  • Oh brother - the DU'ers already have the conspiracy theory reading for distribution - it was Bush's fault, all because of the Attorneys General fiasco....

    Far as I can tell - no books from Bernie re the Hypocrisy of Child Porn. He did a ten-part series on the radio called "Heaven Help Us" about priests and sexual abuse - not sure how to get transcripts.

    http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2421704#2425985

    Priceless.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 07 December, 2007 21:10  

  • Bernie Ward, let's see . . .

    Former Catholic Priest - a group known throughout the world for sexually abusing young males and thereby turning many into homosexuals.

    Lives in and has a radio program in the Homosexual-pedophile capital of the World.

    Is a homosexual himself - membership in a group that openly espouses sexual access to young children. (If you don't know this already, Google Chuck Colson's interview with leaders of the SF Homo-Pedophile community).

    Membership in a group---Homosexuals ---that would not exist if they could be stopped from recruiting new children through child molestation and pedophilia . . . .

    Note: He does not deny that that he possessed child porn.

    He wished to be excused for this crime on the basis of his claim that he possess the pedo-porn for "research."

    The law is clear that it is possession of child porn/pedophilic material that is illegal, irrespective of the purpose.

    The only thing surprising about this, in a city of homo-pedophiles like San Francisco, is that he was charged at all.

    After all, the homo-pedophile population of San Francisco is certainly not against adults using children for their own sexual gratification. They know full well that this is how homosexuals are made---not born (there's never been a shred of evidence of a anyone being "gay at birth").

    Remember, San Francisco expelled the BoyScouts for having they nerve to try to protect their youth membership from being preyed upon by homo-pedophiles and thereby creating the next generations of homo-pedophiles. SF sickos threw out the BoyScouts.

    So what do you think they're going to do to Homo-pedophile Bernie Ward?

    Give him the key to the City, probably.

    Maybe, erect a shrine to him in the Children's petting area of the SF zoo.







    Therefore, expect no

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 08 December, 2007 16:44  

  • KGO Radio and Ward's business attorney have hidden the fact that he has been legally divorced for 3+ years. They didn't want the tarnish of a divorced "God Talk" host. After all he promotes his happy family life. Too bad no one is on the up and up. Ward has been an active visitor to the public SM club/venues for many years. The boy has some definate kinks.

    By Blogger The Nose Knows, at 08 December, 2007 22:32  

Post a Comment

<< Home



 
Page Rank Checker

Powered by Blogger