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Ivy League Professor Caught with Videos That Show Him Having Sex with Children, Feds Say
August 28, 2006 6:10 PM
An Ivy League business school professor is in federal custody for allegedly having videos of himself engaging in sexual acts with children, ABC News has learned.
Lawrence Scott Ward, 63, Professor Emeritus of Marketing at University of Pennsylvania's renowned Wharton School of Business, was caught with child pornography in his luggage and on his laptop computer after arriving at Dulles International Airport on a flight from Brazil, according to court documents.
An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint filed today in federal court in Alexandria says Ward's luggage was flagged for a more thorough inspection for possible child pornography after a customs officer noticed Ward's "excessive" trips to Thailand. Federal agents recovered at least three DVDs, in which Ward appears to be "engaging in sexual contact" with children, the affidavit reads. A video of children as young as eight engaged in sexual activity was also allegedly found on Ward's laptop computer.
Ward's resume says he has been a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Federal officials believe Thailand to be a well-known destination for so-called "sex tourists" who travel there to exploit minors. Wharton's website also lists pro bono consulting work in Brazil as one of Ward's current projects.
According to published reports, in 1999 Ward was fined $2,500 and sentenced to five years probation on charges of attempting to promote prostitution and corrupt minors. In that case, he entered a plea which allowed him to acknowledge that there was sufficient evidence to convict him, without admitting guilt for those charges.
Ward's resume lists several government consulting assignments including work with the Executive Office of the President, the FCC, Department of Commerce and the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. Many of his published works deal with the effects of television advertising and marketing on children and adolescents. According to his biography, Ward has been a marketing consultant to many top companies and lists IBM, Microsoft, General Motors, Home Depot, Exxon, Citibank and Johnson & Johnson among his clients. During the 1980s, he hosted a television program, "The Wharton Business Report" on the now defunct Financial News Network. Ward's biography also states that he was chairman of a foundation that served disadvantaged children with learning disabilities.
The University of Pennsylvania issued the following statement today, relating to Ward's arrest, "We have just learned of the arrest of Scott Ward in Virginia. At the present time, we have very few details. We are currently gathering information about the situation and will take appropriate action as soon as we know more."
August 28, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (114)
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At least he's off the streets. What a disgusting shame.
Posted by: KD | Aug 28, 2006 7:25:18 PM
I work at university in Southern California where we have two faculty who have the same problem. Our university does nothing about these perverts.
Posted by: Confidential | Aug 28, 2006 7:51:01 PM
Hang the pervert.
Posted by: John Ammons | Aug 28, 2006 8:09:31 PM
Prof
It was not cost effective way to sell sex. (a good segmentation of after 18s would have helped you, very competitive products)
Arthur Mboue
Posted by: Arthur Mboue | Aug 28, 2006 8:14:33 PM
If found guilty, lock him up and throw away the key. His kind finances one of the most dehumanizing and destructive practices of modern times; the slave trade of little children.
Posted by: Tom Walsh | Aug 28, 2006 8:53:28 PM
WHY don't we 'sanction' the corrupt government of Thailand until they crack down on the child prostitution/exploitation horrificallly going on there? Why does Uncle Sam turn a blind eye and allow our relations w/them to be 'normal'?
Posted by: Marky Lynn | Aug 28, 2006 8:55:20 PM
Hang him! Hang him high!
Posted by: Duncan | Aug 28, 2006 8:56:03 PM
Its pretty sad that a member of the Penn Faculty had to go out like this. I find that Penn Alumns are some of the worst in the business when it comes to telling the world that they "went to Penn" like it really has more than a minor difference (unless you are on the receiving end of one of these pathetic verbal vomits-buyer beware).
I am not suprised that one of their so-called elites gets nailed to the Cross for playing the underage game.
Posted by: Fredo | Aug 28, 2006 9:29:19 PM
just another case of a sick fellow destroying the lives of defenseless children...
I hope he's widely disclosed publicly as the sick pervert he is...
Can you say death penalty?? That's what I think is appropriate!!!
Posted by: rick | Aug 28, 2006 10:02:41 PM
Again, money buys you freedom and children again pay the price...wonder why society grows up worse and worse...
Power is evil, and noone will stand up to it, even media feeds off it! SAD and Shameful.
Mom in PA
Posted by: Janet Schamp | Aug 28, 2006 10:06:03 PM
I quit Wharton MBA program after a year to continue full-time work. The reasons included mediocre teaching and arrogant professors and administration
Posted by: ex-wharton | Aug 28, 2006 10:19:28 PM
Well, let's see if he can buy his way out of this like many other "upper class" people......
(Not that he has any class to start with you know....)
Posted by: George Johnson | Aug 28, 2006 10:31:25 PM
these dogs should hang for what they do to kids. perverts!!!
Posted by: mercedes martinez guntle | Aug 28, 2006 10:54:19 PM
Thats sick...what a perv...I don't know what I would do if I found out those wre my children...I would just die...
Posted by: Rebecca | Aug 28, 2006 11:48:49 PM
Lets quit calling them 'sick' perverts; Its called 'sin' and 'evil behavior'.They don't need Doctors, they need to be put in jail for life.
Posted by: aidiasue davis | Aug 28, 2006 11:56:04 PM
This kind of thing makes me sick. Recently, I learned that a former gym teacher of mine had been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for possession and distribution of child pornography for the past decade (I was skeptical at first, since the man is legally blind). He recently took a plea bargain. The Feds captured him with good police work and diligent investigation.
This Ward guy, however, is a different story. First of all, he had something that my felon ex-teacher didn't: he has videos of himself engaged in sexual activities with minors (that just makes me sick to my stomach). Secondly, however, the feds seem to have arrived at some rather risky conclusions. Though they have enough evidence to support probable cause for his arrest, they obtained that evidence through some "guessing". Although Thailand is a hub of the sex trade, visiting Thailand is not a crime. Therefore, the extra searching based on his "excessive" trips is easy to rebuff in court; making "excessive" trips to Thailand may be suspicious, but do not support probable cause for a search and seizure. If ICE had skipped over this guy and then it was flagged as suspicious, no judge would have granted a search warrant based on travelling to a foreign country. ICE seems to have jumped the gun and gotten a bit too excited. If I had run this (which God knows I wouldn't want to), the agents would have noted something suspicious, let the man go, and mark his every move, including searching his trash for anything. There are so many legitimate ways of collecting evidence that is solid when held up to the exclusionary rule, I am somewhat disappointed that the feds took this route.
Still, I hope this guy is sent to prison for life, where he'd probably be killed.
Posted by: Andrew E | Aug 29, 2006 12:12:05 AM
What is everyone so upset about? This is just an alternative lifestyle... RIGHT? You are all just a bunch of intolerant, right-wing, facists, religious, bigots! OK..OK... I am only kidding. Just wanted to let all of you know how it feels when you get this kind of response from left-wing wackos everytime you try to defend moral behavior and speak out against every other kind of abhorent behavior (i.e., transexual, transgendered, beastiality, homosexuality, etc. etc.). Pedophilia is just one step lower than these sickening behaviors and we are on the slippery slope now.
Posted by: Tolerance | Aug 29, 2006 12:14:09 AM
"WHY don't we 'sanction' the corrupt government of Thailand until they crack down on the child prostitution/exploitation horrificallly going on there?"
Typical American arrogance.
Americans go there to screw
kids and its the Thai government's
fault.
The same type of reverse logic is being
applied to Colombia because
USA has a snorting problem.
Blame the other guys! It can't be the USA citizens at fault. No way.
Posted by: Yizmo Gizmo | Aug 29, 2006 12:30:45 AM
Filthy dog...too bad he wasn;t around in Old Testament days when God judged right on the spot...
Wonder how many more like him are roaming around out there? Teaching in scholls where you think your kids are safe...
That's all gone folks ..NO PLACE is safe anymore...and I trust no one with my kids ..can't anymore...perverts could be living next door to you too...just don't know these days...Society is wicked...creeps roaming around all over the place...looking for trouble...
Posted by: Steffie | Aug 29, 2006 12:43:06 AM
Throw this sick pervert in jail, make sure the general population knows what he's in for, and let's see how long he lasts.
Even in jail there is a certain code criminals live by: rapists, child killers, and child molesters are considered the lowest on the totem pole so to speak. What happens to them in the big house is not pretty.
I can't think of a much better punishment than knowing these perverts would be in fear of their lives every minute of every day, and trying to cover their butts(literaly)the rest of the time.
Serves the skanks right.
Posted by: carol | Aug 29, 2006 12:54:43 AM
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