Ex-Ivy League professor guilty of child porn

updated 5:23 p.m. ET Nov. 17, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - A former Ivy League professor pleaded guilty Monday to making child pornography and lying to government officials, charges that stemmed from his relationship with a Brazilian teenager.

Lawrence Scott Ward, 66, persuaded the 16-year-old to engage in sexual acts with him in Brazil and then made and mailed images of that activity to his office, federal authorities said.

Ward was a professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business at the time of the crimes in 2006.

He also lied to the State Department in an attempt to get a visa for the teen from the U.S. consulate in Brazil, according to an indictment filed in March.

Ward said the victim was the son of a friend and business acquaintance, authorities said. In an effort to dispel fears that the teen would become an illegal immigrant, Ward said the teen's family was well-off, even though he knew they were poor, prosecutors said. The consulate initially denied the boy's visa but later reversed its decision.

Ward is already serving a 15-year federal sentence for importing child pornography. Images of the same victim were found on his laptop by customs agents at Washington Dulles International Airport when he returned from Brazil in August 2006.

He will be sentenced on the additional charges Feb. 19.

A message left for Ward's attorney on Monday was not immediately returned.

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