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.


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Bottom Ward image: AP