In the wake of child pornography indictments filed against two Utah men, law-enforcement officials are working to raise awareness about sexual exploitation and urging parents to talk to their children about online safety.
Bountiful doctor Nathan Clark Ward, who already was charged in state court with sex abuse and sex exploitation, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on three child-pornography counts.
And in a separate indictment returned in August — in a case that prosecutors say stemmed from their investigation of Ward — Lehi resident Robert Edwin Francis was charged with three child pornography counts.
At a Tuesday news conference, Steve Cagen, the Denver-based special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which investigates child exploitation cases, said his agency needs the public’s help to battle online predators.
Predators posing as 12- or 14-year-olds will chat with children who have smart phones and ask them to send pictures of themselves naked or performing sex acts, Cagen said. After predators get the first photo, they extort more pictures from their victim, he said.
“I’m asking parents to have the difficult conversation with their children” about online dangers and warn them not to share photos of themselves or have conversations with someone they don’t know, Cagen said.
He encouraged parents to visit the website of the national cyber safety campaign iGuardians (https://www.ice.gov/topics/) for help.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber, who said his office handles 40-plus child pornography-related cases a year, urged parents to educate themselves on what is on their children’s phone.
“They should know what each app is,” Huber said.
The indictment against Ward — which was issued under seal last Wednesday and unsealed Friday — accuses the obstetrician-gynecologist of one count each of production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. The alleged crimes began on “a date unknown” and continued until about Aug. 16, the indictment says. No other details are given.
Ward pleaded not guilty to all three counts at a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court and was ordered detained pending resolution of the case by Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead, according to court documents.
The 55-year-old Ward was charged in August in Utah’s 2nd District Court with 11 felonies: sodomy upon a child, aggravated sexual child abuse, forcible sodomy, two counts of forcible sexual abuse and six charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. He is being held in the Davis County jail on those charges, and is scheduled to appear in 2nd District Court on Oct. 25.
State charging documents allege Ward sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in Davis County in 2012 and abused another “minor female” between 2012 and 2015. Charging records indicate the doctor “occupied a position of special trust” to this alleged victim, but did not detail the relationship any further. In addition, Ward is accused of the six counts of sexual exploitation for allegedly possessing, viewing or sharing at least six images of child pornography in 2016.
Francis was indicted Aug. 23 on one count each of production of child pornography, reciept of child pornography and possessionof child pornography. Court documents allege he conducted multiple chats and shared sexually explicit photos of children with someone whose screen name was clark_bueno.
The alleged crimes began on “a date unknown” and continued until about Aug. 16, the indictment says. Francis is being held in jail pending resolution of his case.
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