Former professor gets 15 years for child porn

Ex-Penn instructor was caught at airport with DVDs showing underage sex

Video: Crime & courts

Police recover stolen safe in Florida double murder case
July 16: Police recovered the safe stolen from the Billings home as well as what they believe to be the second vehicle used in the robbery. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

Two killed in Jersey City shootout

The Crossbow Incident

Police video shows Mexican cartels outsmarting U.S. authorities

Flames engulf historic Maine mill

On the run

15 Most Wanted

The U.S. Marshals want your help finding their "15 Most Wanted" fugitives, a notorious list of suspects fleeing everything from murder and robbery to child sex charges. To date, about 200 of the fugitives profiled on the list have been found. Tips leading to an arrest are rewarded up to $25,000. Click here to see the fugitives.

Breaking news alerts (about 1 per day)
Click here to sign up or text NEWS to MSNBC (67622).

Find more alerts at alerts.msnbc.com

Most popular

updated 12:44 a.m. ET May 12, 2007

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former University of Pennsylvania professor was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison and fined $17,500 for importing child pornography.

Lawrence Scott Ward, 64, of Philadelphia, was arrested Aug. 27 after returning from Brazil through Washington Dulles International Airport. Customs agents discovered child pornography on Ward’s computer and found DVDs containing videos of Ward having sex acts with an underage boy, according to court documents.

Ward pleaded guilty in February in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Ward, a professor emeritus at Penn’s Wharton School of Business, is retired. He had been scheduled to teach last fall before university officials relieved him of those duties after his arrest.

In 1999, Ward was accused of soliciting sex from a 23-year-old undercover Pennsylvania state trooper posing as a 15-year-old boy. He was charged with attempting to promote prostitution and corrupt minors and entered an Alford plea, which means he did not admit committing the crimes but conceded prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him. He was fined $2,500 and sentenced to five years of probation.