Alexandria, Va. -- Wharton professor emeritus Scott Ward remains in custody after federal agents discovered videos allegedly showing him engaging in sex acts with teenage boys.
Ward, who will no longer be teaching at Penn, was charged with importation of child pornography after being searched as he returned to the United States from a trip to Brazil on Sunday.
This is the third time Ward has dealt with allegations involving underage boys. According to Ed Power, the prosecutor for the case, the maximum punishment for this particular offense is 20 years imprisonment.
A hearing here yesterday was set to determine whether Ward would continue to be held in custody pending trial.
Ward appeared dishevelled as he was brought into the courtroom, and he was asked to pay attention to the proceedings after he initially stared out into the crowd.
Meghan Skelton, the attorney assigned to defend him, asked the judge for a delay.
Skelton would not comment in detail as to why she felt the delay was necessary, saying only that "it's really in [Ward's] best interest."
According to police reports, customs officials were suspicious of Ward because he had taken "excessive trips to Thailand," which is "a well-known destination for people having sex with minors."
A search of Ward's baggage revealed a laptop, mini-DVD-R disks and a digital video recorder all with video of children appearing to be between 8 and 16 years old engaging in sexual acts, some of them with Ward, the report said.
This incident is not the first time Ward has been accused of sexual misconduct involving minors.
In 1995, Ward was acquitted during a trial for allegedly paying a teenage boy for sex on dozens of occasions.
He later twice faced charges for allegedly soliciting sex from a state trooper who pretended that he was a 15 year old.
In 1996, a jury acquitted him on one charge and deadlocked on two others.
In 1999, he was forced to pay $2,500 and serve five years of probation after entering a plea that did not admit guilt, but acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to convict him.
Tuesday afternoon, Penn President Amy Gutmann said that, "from here on in, Mr. Ward will not be a teacher at Penn."
Despite repeated questions from several Daily Pennsylvanian staffers, Gutmann refused to comment on why Ward had not been fired after these previous incidents, saying only that she had found out about Ward's prior history on Monday.
According to Jim Rybicki, a spokesman for the Eastern District of Virginia, U.S. prosecutors are "very focused on" child pornography offenders.
"It's one of the attorney general's top priorities," Rybicki said.
Rybicki added that it would not be unusual for even someone like a university professor to be found with child pornography.
"You see people from all walks of life," Rybicki said.
