A former Roman Catholic priest and father of four, Ward, 57, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of distributing child pornography. He was turned in by an online dominatrix who grew concerned about images he had of young children.
It is a pretty harsh sentence and Judge Walker even questioned the need or wisdom to send people like Ward away to prison for so long. Walker said he was “not at all convinced” that such sentences are warranted, but notably did not depart further on sentencing. The prosecutors had asked for nine years.
Under his plea agreement, Ward admitted sending dozens of porn images via email.
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