In 2004, federal agents caught Michael Williams in the act of attempting to exchange pornographic images of children online. In an Internet chat room, Williams boasted that he had "hard core" pictures of himself engaged in sex acts with his four-year-old daughter. He also told an undercover federal agent that he was willing to trade the photos for pictures depicting other children in provocative poses.

Despite his claims, Williams did not in fact have pornographic photographs of his daughter. Nevertheless, Williams was prosecuted under a federal law that outlaws the pandering of child pornography.
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December 10, 2007 | By DEBBIE NATHAN

Bernie Ward, a San Francisco-based liberal talk show host, was indicted late last week on federal child pornography charges. His is the second such indictment brought against a media figure who then claimed he had the porn merely to do research and reporting. Meanwhile, a third journalist, a former New York Times reporter who engaged in similar behavior, has not been indicted. The inconsistency suggests that the government chooses whom to go after and whom to leave alone. And it makes clear that the media needs a First Amendment exemption or license allowing reporters to examine child pornography legally.
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Ward’s case is strikingly similar to that of Larry Mathews, a media figure who faced child porn charges in the late 1990s. Mathews was a Washington DC-area radio reporter in his late 50s. He had won press awards and was known for covering social issues, including the problem of internet child porn. When arrested, he said he had acquired illegal material because he was impersonating a pedophile in order to do another story.

The government countered that Mathews had no notes or story assignment from a media outlet. The ACLU, National Public Radio, and other press and First Amendment organizations spoke out for him and filed supporting legal briefs. But an appellate court later ruled that journalists have no right to acquire or distribute child pornography while doing research. Mathews was convicted and served several months in a halfway house.
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Ex-KGO radio host Bernie Ward attempted to mount a First Amendment challenge, arguing he had child pornography in connection with a book project. But his lawyer, Doron Weinberg, ultimately aborted that defense, and Ward intends to plead guilty.

While Weinberg would not discuss Ward's case because sentencing is still pending, in general, he said the law is strict.

"Because intent, knowledge and purpose have no room, no place in the litigation of these cases," Weinberg said, "and the case revolves simply or completely on the physical reality of these images, there's not a lot a lawyer can do on behalf of the client."