Stillwater Man Arrested for Rape, Possessing, Manufacturing Child Pornography

News9.com

STILLWATER, Oklahoma -- A Stillwater man has been arrested for being involved in numerous sex acts with children.

John Philips Ward, 68, faces charges of rape, rape by instrumentation, lewd acts with a child, possession of child pornography and manufacturing child porn.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents said three witnesses came forward saying they were molested by Ward. All three witnesses are family members, both male and female, from the ages of 9 to 14 years old. One victim said the abuse has been going on for the past seven years.

A police affidavit said Ward also took pictures and videos of his victims and told them he was selling the pictures and videos to a European magazine that would make them famous.

The victims also claimed Ward kept the memory cards inside a black bag along with sex toys and a gun that he kept in a safe at his house.

OSBI agents found several of those items inside a safe at Ward's home when they executed a search warrant Wednesday evening.

"We found what I understand, thousands of images of him having sexual contact with children at least as young as 9 years old perhaps younger, and we are still looking into that. OSBI has had the case less than 24 hours," Brown said.

Investigators said they believe the abuse had been occurring for many years.

"We believe it is multiple children who he abused or sexually abused. Right now we are trying to identify them and that is often very difficult," Brown said. "We aren't finished looking at the images yet, so there might be more than at first glance."

OSBI investigators are trying to figure out if any other children are pictured in those sex tapes.

The victims also told investigators the abuse took place at Ward's rural Payne County home as well as hotels in Stillwater, Tulsa and Sand Springs.

OSBI asks anyone who recognizes Ward to contact the OSBI hotline at (800) 522-8017 in hopes of other victims coming forward.

Ward is being held on a $2 million bond. He will be back in court July 21 when he will be formally charged.