Ward faces criminal trial before civil suit

Marketing Professor Scott Ward, arrested during the fall of 1993 for allegedly soliciting sex from minors, will not be tried on civil charges before his criminal trial begins, Judge Joseph O'Keefe ruled last week. O'Keefe upheld an injunction that prevented the civil suit from going forward until after the criminal proceedings. The civil trial will begin on March 27. Ward's criminal trial is slated to begin March 6. But Sidney Ginsberg, one of the lawyers representing "B.M."-- a pseudonym for the man who filed the civil suit against Ward -- said one of his witnesses had died of AIDS. He said he fears further delays will weaken his case. "We want to move forward while we have witnesses to depose," Ginsberg said. "We want to go forward with the civil case which has been pending since the beginning of October." Ginsberg also argued that Ward's attorneys had no constitutional right to be granted the injunction. The civil suit against Ward alleges that B.M., an 18 year-old male, had sexual contact with Ward between 50 and 100 times from the time he was 13 or 14 years old. The suit charges Ward with counts of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligence and fraud. B.M. claimed he was paid between $20 and $25 to perform oral sex on the professor -- first in hotel rooms and later at Ward's home in Ardmore, a suburb of Philadelphia. He also alleges that Ward asked him if he knew of other boys who would be interested in being paid for sexual acts. The suit claims that because of both his age and dysfunctional emotional state, B.M. was legally and mentally unable to consent to the sexual acts in which he engaged with Ward. Criminal complaints pending against Ward include statutory rape, indecent assault, indecent exposure, corruption of minors, criminal solicitation to commit prostitution and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Ward's attorney in the civil case, Michael Mustokoff, refused to comment. Ward, who is not teaching any courses this semester, also refused to comment. Daily Pennsylvanian Staff Writer Lisa Levenson contributed to this story.

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