Police Shrink Convicted Of Child Molestation Denied Appeal

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, CA — A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld the conviction of a former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department psychologist on sex-related charges involving two young family members in La Canada Flintridge.

Michael Dane Ward was convicted in August 2017 of four counts of a lewd act upon a child, three counts of oral copulation of a child 10 or younger, two counts of forcible lewd act upon a child and one count of sodomy with a child 10 or younger.

The charges involved crimes between October 2013 and November 2015 when the boy and girl were each under the age of 10.

Ward — who was primarily responsible for teaching and training investigative personnel from the sheriff's department — was sentenced in January 2018 to 98 years to life in state prison.

City News Service