MAHONING COUNTY Child molester tricked mothers, said right things

Ward is serving a six-year term for similar crimes in another county.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Walter Ward went to great lengths to make mothers feel that their young sons would be safe with him. He even bought one boy a cell phone so his mom could keep in touch with him.
What that mother didn't know was that the man she knew as "Wardie" was actually molesting her son. On Wednesday, the Beloit man was sent to prison for six years.
Ward, 55, had pleaded guilty in April to one count of gross sexual imposition and nine counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor.
Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court imposed the six-year prison term that had been recommended in a plea agreement between the prosecutor's office, Ward and his attorney, Jeffrey Jakmides of Alliance.
The sentence is consecutive to a six-year term Ward is serving for similar charges in Columbiana County, which began in December.
"He's a very devious criminal, and he has been preying on innocent boys for years," said the mother of one victim, a 13-year-old boy. "He showered his target boys with things. Anything that made them feel indebted to him."
The woman, a single mother of three, said she thought Ward was "just a nice guy who lived at home taking care of his mom," so she didn't worry when he hired her son to help him build bird cages and do other jobs around his house.
She said Ward did and said all the right things to make her think he was a good influence on her son.
"He even bought two cell phones and gave one to my son, so when they went to Columbus, I could call and keep in touch with him," the woman said.
Columbus trip
She said her son and other boys sometimes accompanied Ward to Columbus to help him with his pet-cage business. He also took them to country music concerts and other events.
The woman said Ward is a "very brainy and smart man" who made his victims feel like he'd done nothing wrong because "they wanted it, too."
Another woman, who said she is a grandmother of another victim, said most of the sexual assaults took place in Ward's basement. Dawn Krueger, an assistant county prosecutor, said they happened between 1999 and 2003.
Once Ward is released from prison, he is required to register his address with the sheriff's department in his county of residence once a year for 20 years. That's because the judge declared him a habitual child-victim offender.
"Don't even think about moving within 1,000 feet of a school," Judge Evans told him.
bjackson@vindy.com