LA Sheriff's Department Psychologist Charged with Child Molestation: Updated

LOS ANGELES, CA - A 44-year-old psychologist who works for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was charged today with molesting a 9-year- old boy and 10-year-old girl.

Michael Dane Ward's relationship to the children, and where the crimes allegedly occurred, were unclear.

But the allegations were not the result of contacts he made within the scope of his work with the Sheriff's Department, according to the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau, which said Ward was primarily responsible for teaching and training investigative personnel.

Ward pleaded not guilty this afternoon to 10 felony sex counts: four counts of committing a lewd act on a child, two counts of committing a forcible lewd act on a child under 14, three counts of forcible oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years or younger and one count of sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years of younger.

He's being held on $2 million bail and was ordered to return to court on May 19 for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

The psychologist was relieved of duty last Thursday pending outcome of the criminal proceedings, according to a sheriff's statement, which characterized the allegations as "deeply troubling."

District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Jane Robison said her office would not comment further on how Ward knew the children.

He was arrested last Thursday after the sheriff's Special Victims Bureau launched an investigation into incidents alleged to have occurred between August 2014 and March 31 of this year.

If convicted as charged, Ward faces up to life in prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.

City News Service