Former Catholic priest and KGO 810 AM host Bernie Ward was finally fired, ending his working relationship with the station. This stems from last year's federal indictment of child pornography charges that befell the (now former) host of "the Bernie Ward Show" and "Godtalk." He was officially let go, it seems, at the end of 2007. According to Dan Noyes at KGO, Ward admitted to "downloading images from the internet and trading them with people he met on-line. His attorneys have said Ward was doing research for a book at the time." Hmm.

Have no fear, Ward fans; he might not be off the air for long. Noyes goes on to say:

KGO Radio General Manager Micky Luckoff tells me the station took the action against Ward before knowing full details of the case, and that he wants him back on the air soon. Luckoff believes Ward’s explanation that he downloaded and traded child porn as research for a book: “Technically, it’s against the law. He admitted what he did. There’s no reason to believe he’s a pedophile.” Luckoff adds that Ward’s arrest “hit us like a ton of bricks.” Luckoff says Ward and his attorneys have assured him that the talk show host’s involvement with child porn is confined to the three incidents outlined in the federal complaint. You can read it here.

Luckoff also tells Noyes that he "really value[s] Bernie. He’s a very capable on-air talent." Read more about it here.