Former prof loses child porn appeal

A former Wharton professor who pleaded guilty to child pornography-related charges will not receive a lighter federal prison sentence.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied the appeal of Lawrence Scott Ward, a 70-year-old former marketing professor who was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $250,000 after pleading guilty to two counts of shipping child pornography in interstate commerce and two counts of inducing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

Ward, who filed an appeal on Feb. 23, 2012, claimed his sentence was inappropriate on seven separate grounds. Prior to this appeal, Ward had successfully won an appeal of his original sentence on Nov. 24, 2010 on the grounds that the district court did not sentence him for each count separately.

According to the Third Circuit Court’s decision, some of the arguments Ward offered in his most recent appeal included that the district court “impermissibly increased his fine” from $100,000 at his first sentencing to $250,000, that the court did not adequately explain its choice of a 25-year prison sentence and that the sentence length was “substantively unreasonable,” as it “exceeds his projected life expectancy.”

Related: Former Penn prof denied lesser sentence in child porn case

However, the Third Circuit Court found that “all of Ward’s arguments are unavailing.”

The court said the increase of Ward’s fine was not inappropriate because it did not stem from vindictiveness on the part of the district court judge, but rather from his weighing the evidence and charges against Ward.

The Third Circuit Court also ruled that the 25-year sentence was appropriate because the sentencing court properly “listed a variety of reasons why the sentence was necessary.”

The University had no comment on the denial of Ward’s appeal. Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, nor Ward’s attorney could be reached for comment.

Ward was first arrested at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., in 2006 after child pornography was found on his laptop and on DVDs in his suitcase during a routine check. After his arrest, federal agents searched his Wharton office and discovered photographs and videos of him engaged in sexual acts with minors, according to court documents.

Ward pleaded guilty on May 17, 2007 in a Virginia federal court for producing child pornography for importation into the United States, and received 15 years in prison and a fine of $17,500.

On Nov. 17, 2008, he pleaded guilty to all four child pornography and sexual misconduct charges tried in Pennsylvania and one count of making false statements to a federal official and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

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