Crime & Safety

La Cañada Man Found Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting 2 Family Members

Both of the victims were minors when the sexual assaults occurred.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA – A 45-year-old La Cañada-Flintridge man was convicted today of sexually assaulting two family members, both minors, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Michael Dane Ward was found guilty of four counts of lewd act on a child, two counts of forcible lewd act on a child under 14, three counts of oral copulation of a child 10 years old or younger and one count of sodomy with a child under 10.

Ward faces the possibility of life in prison, and sentencing is set for October 19. Both victims, one boy and one girl, were under the age of 10 when the sexual assaults occurred between October 2013 and November 2015, according to the District Attorney's Office. The two victims testified at trial against Ward, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department psychologist.

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