**This post contains some sensitive content from testimony in a court case about alleged sex trafficking of minors. This case is the definition of public safety and keeping the community informed. The booking photo was released before the 9th circuit ruling**
I covered preliminary hearing for alleged sex trafficker Darin Ward which took several days. There are 14 counts and 8 Does with additional charges anticipated and more alleged victims.
At the time of his arrest in September, Ward worked in the Humboldt Towing liens and sales department. No one from that company and no one else has contacted me to state otherwise. In the past, other businesses have reached out to me if someone is a past employee.
No other media was there for three days. The People have presented all the evidence that is the bulk of the case. There is one more day scheduled on October 23 for defense to complete cross examination, arguments by the attorneys and ruling by Assistant Presiding Judge Timothy Canning. At this point, other than any additional phone extraction data, the evidence and patterns were covered earlier this month. I will be covering the preliminary trial to conclusion but I am not sitting around for hours in a courtroom wasting my time with nonsense from the defense and unnecessary delays because of inept and unprepared defense counsel and an unremorseful, stupid client.
I first reported about Ward's recent arrest, covered his case regularly and covered his previous arrest. Most of you read the posts I did about the preliminary hearing earlier this month. This post is for those who read and want all the details and all the testimony.
Kudos to the HCSO team who worked on this case and to the DAs office that charges cases where the victims do not come from white picket fence homes.
This 1 to 2 day trial dragged into 4 days with a break and the 5th day is October 23 all because of Ward and his attorney, Mr. Ken Bareilles. Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer is the prosecutor.
I have covered many such cases and Humboldt Superior Court for 10 years and they are exhausting and draining to cover and take a toll. Add to that constant intimidation, retaliation and negativity from the Humboldt petty and and toxics who don't like the local underbelly exposed.
For all those keyboard warriors who claim to be so concerned about children and safety, especially homophobic and transphobic conservatives, there have been crickets from you about this Trump supporter who is an alleged sex trafficker of minors. Either be consistent about all arrests and court cases going through the system or stop pretending you care about morals and children.
Unlike those keyboard warriors who unnecessarily drag politics and religion and talk about select alleged predators when convenient to their agenda, I am pointing out Ward's political leanings and his religious beliefs which are relevant in the way he treats others including his own son, the serious allegations against Ward including his own very young children being present when certain alleged acts occurred and the hypocritical behavior of those who support him or claims to be for "family values." Do you have the stomach to read the filth your fellow Trump supporter is into and what he "allegedly" exposed young children to; I doubt it. Look at who the GOP nominee is for president and the religious zealots who defend and support that immoral, godless evil.
The other local media may cover this for headlines on the last day and after I have posted on the case or if this makes national news or if they have nothing else to do on a given day and probably do it via email like usual taking away time from busy Deputy DAs. The other local media were MIA for several days when it mattered. I covered this case and many such court cases including the Kevin Dikes case for years. In the Dikes' case, I contacted the victim's mother after the plea while researching and juggling multiple court cases and other news and posted before others followed up; as usual.
In my October 9 post on Ward, I wrote the "cleanest" post in days of testimony was Ward telling Doe 1 about going with God's age, not legal age" and "God's age is puberty.
In my October post, I also mentioned a 2022 court document about Ward's biblical beliefs which I am not going to post on the blog because it is a name change for a minor who is Ward's son. He is one of the young Does mentioned in testimony and was around when Ward performed certain acts that pearl clutching conservatives and local churchgoers frown upon and condemn in public. I know how many of you live, behave and what you do when you aren't faking piety on a Sunday.
The address on that court document is the same residence on Essex street where HCSO served two search warrants and was mentioned several times in court testimony. The minor's mother is listed as homeless. The minor's first name has been changed, his last name is not Ward but the mother's name so this following sentence does not identify him. Ward wrote,"I feel my son will get picked on in school if his first name is Genesis."
In my October 9 post, I wrote court testimony revealed Ward likes to have relationships and befriends women who are homeless and vulnerable due to other reasons.
Keep all that in mind as you read about the allegations against Ward and the court testimony. His own parents were not in court on October 9. His mother sat outside court in the morning. Both parents were not there in the afternoon in or outside court.
After wasting time on 10/4/24, 10/7/24 with delays and continuances by Mr. Bareilles which I covered in previous posts, testimony finally started on October 8. Then another delay by defense and Ward dragging this out to October 23. Det. Buihner and Deputy Stoner are the only two witnesses who have testified for the People unless something changes on October 23. Deputy Stoner has testified and been excused.
Doe 1 said there was a camera in the bathroom facing the bathtub. Ward had her brother Doe 6 who was 5 years old bathe with Doe 5 in the bathtub. This was while Doe 1, Doe 2 and her family were living with Ward in November 2023.
Ward told Doe 1 that he had changed his mind and that she no longer needed to send him a picture; she could show him her naked body. Ward also took Doe 1 to the warehouse.
Doe 1 drew a diagram of "Ward's place" and it was consistent with what Det. Buihner saw. Doe 1 saw purple and "tealish" sex toys when she went to get diapers. "Previously, Ward had asked her if she wanted to see sex toys," said Det. Buihner. "She said no. After that he directed her to the closet with sex toys."
"Once when Ward told her Doe 4 wasn't coming over, Ward took his clothes off in front of Doe 1, Ward showed her photos of his penis on his phone with a purple filter and Ward asked her if she wanted him to send it to her. Doe 1 declined. Doe 1 said Ward was completely nude and standing in front of her."
Det. Buihner said Doe 1, Doe 2 and her family "did not stay with Ward after the hot tub incident."
Doe 2 had provided recordings of Ward and after lunch, Mr. Bareilles objected to a 5 minute recordings being mentioned by Det. Buihner. Judge Timothy Canning allowed Det. Buihner to identify the voices as Doe 2 and Ward.
Mr. Bareilles said they were recorded without consent. He had to be schooled in case law. This is just one example of the kind of nonsense and Mr. Bareilles not being familiar with California penal codes or specific laws in sex crime cases that led to unnecessary continuances and wasted days and hours.
Ms. Schaffer said there is a general prohibition against recording without consent but there is an exception to recording a crime and she could state the statute. Ms. Schaffer mentioned PC 632, PC 632 (b) and PC 632.5 She read the language of exceptions and one of the crimes mentioned is human trafficking.
Judge Canning overruled Mr. Bareilles' objection saying, "Counsel should have anticipated" this and that he was reluctant to grant a continuance in the middle of the preliminary.
Judge Canning asked Mr. Bareiiles if his client was willing to waive time and his right to a continuous preliminary hearing. Previously Ward was not but he agreed on October 8. Ms. Schaffer said the defendant had that right. Mr. Bareiiles said he wanted to prepare a "written memo" and Judge Canning asked him to come prepared the next morning. Court was adjourned for the rest of the day.
10/9 court testimony:
On 10/9, Ken Bareilles wasted more time, lost his argument and Judge Canning told him not to cite unpublished opinions to the court.
Ms. Schaffer cited more case law including PC 633.5, Prop 8 and exclusions and addressed constitutional rights.
I noticed Ward's mother was not in the courtroom. She was sitting outside. Four attorneys which included private attorneys and Humboldt Deputy County Counsel who primarily appear in family law court were in court for some of the testimony. Ward's father and mother were not in court after lunch and they were not outside the courtroom.
Det. Buihner testified that Ward told Doe 2 about "the risk he continues to take being around her and what has already happened." Ward told Doe 2 "to go somewhere alone, get naked, take a picture of her vagina with the caption 'lick my pussy because you are gay like that' and send it to him on Snapchat."
Doe 2 did not send the photo. Ward told "Doe 2 if she wanted to know what a real man felt like she could sit on his face or sit on his lap." Ward showed Doe 2 pictures of his penis on his phone. Ward told Doe 2 he would send pictures of his penis to Doe 3.
"Ward took Doe 2 to the shop, they picked out outfits and dressed like girls." At another trip to Willow Creek, Does 2, Doe 5, 1, 6, 7 and 9 were present. Some of these Does are younger siblings of Doe 2. At Willow Creek, Doe 2 observed Ward masturbating behind a rock. "Ward's hand was moving up and down, his face was tilted back and toes were curling." Doe 6 who is 5 years old was in the general area where Ward was naked and maturbating.
Det. Buihner mentioned an additional victim, Doe 8 who is 14 years old and not related to the other Does. That CAST interview took place on September 16. In that interview, Doe 8 referred to Ward as a "wierd ass motherfucker." She knew Ward through her father and older brother and had been to Ward's "shop and boat."
Det. Buihner testified that "on occasions Doe 8 was alone with the defendant such as riding on a moped." When Doe 8 was driving, "Ward had one hand on the handle bar and one hand on her stomach which he would slowly slide lower. She would crash the moped to get him to stop."
Ward "consulted Doe 8 about his sexual relationship with his girlfriend at that time and told Doe 8 he also wanted to do those things to Doe 8."
Doe 8 also went to the "shop." She gave a specific description. Ward showed Doe 8 child pornography on his tablet in his motorhome. Ward explained the web address and told her how to access it and watch it on her own time. Ward told Doe 8 "he likes to watch it because it makes him happy and he likes to watch children express themselves. Ward said he preferred clean, school child like pornography. He liked to watch little girls drink cum."
Ward told Doe 8 "he preferred children under age 12 and preferred 6 to 8 years old and he would narrate videos. Mr. Ward made comments about how a male came inside a female and that female would have to wash her face " said Det. Buihner.
Ward told Doe 8 "he masturbated on his pillow cases and needed to change them frequently." Ward offered to "teach Doe 8 how to squirt." Ward showed Doe 8 "a collection of sex toys and he had names for each sex toy and described what he had done to each girl with that specific toy."
Doe 8 said Ward told her he "preferred sex toys which vibrated and he placed on his balls and began to moan. Ward "attempted to use it on Doe 8 and she told him she wasn't taking her pants off. Ward continued to attempt to use it on her and she felt it on her leg." Ward was persistent and kept encouraging Doe 8 to watch a video and telling her "she would be okay."
"One evening, Doe 8 was with Ward, her father Vernon, her brother Eli," testified Det. Buihner. "There was a window where you could see the hot tub. She went to the bathroom on a lower level attempting to change out of her bathing suit. She was in the shower. Ward tried to get access to the bathroom. He tried to open the door 'to help her change'. Her father saw through the window and came to her assistance. Then her father and brother left."
Ward told Doe 8 "he does his best work in the shower and she was already there." Ward would "watch child pornography on his IPad and leave it running. She would wait for it to turn off. She wouldn't touch it because Ward 'whacked off'."
"Doe 8 had seen Ward's penis. He took his penis out of his pants and rubbed it on her leg. Doe 8 kicked him. Ward cried out in pain and walked away. He made a comment that he would not try that again."
The CAST forensic interview took a break which was requested by Det. Buihner because he saw "Doe 8 had shut down."
"Jane Doe 8 remained in the room. She broke down and began to sob." The CAST interview resumed. "Ward asked her to 'suck his dick' multiple times, tickle his penis, blow on his penis. Doe 8 refused. Ward would walk away and watch his tablet. Doe 8 said she was worried Darin would kill her."
After Doe 8's interview, additional search warrants were authorized for Ward's boat and a second search warrant was served on Ward's house. Det. Buihner said "overall the residence was cleaner, the bottom left drawer was emptied, clothing and sex toys were removed that were there the first time and items were missing from drawers and the closet."
Items found in the boat at 1 Marina Way were "four vibrators, purple in color; DMV pink slips" and these were items Det. Buihner recognized which were at Ward's house during the first search warrant. New items included "fishnet tights located in a cubby next to the bed and handcuffs with bows on them."
In the kitchen area of the boat, there were drones and stacks of phones which included some phones from the house seen during the first search warrant and law enforcement found a small camera mounted with a SD card and other cameras with SD cards in another location.
HCSO Evidence Tech Andy Campbell was present for the second search warrant served at Ward's house and did a forensic download of electronic items including the black Amazon tablet which was there during when the first search was served.
"In the browser, Evidence Tech Campbell "discovered hundreds of tabs that appeared to be child pornography with multiple tabs open." Evidence Tech Campbell told Det. Buihner that "the majority was child porn and took 10 screenshots" to send to Det. Buihner.
Det. Buihner reviewed the screenshots. "One was a video; one a photo," testified Det. Buihner. "The video had two females approximately 12 years old wearing long sleeve shirts, no underwear, no pants. They appeared to be crying. One girl had her vagina and anus exposed. The other girl kneeling and standing was bent over, away from the camera with her butt facing the camera, grabbing her butt cheeks and spreading them."
"This is just one example of what was on the tablet," said Det. Buihner. He viewed the tabs. "879 tabs were open and majority of them were child pornography."
Det. Buihner testified about how Doe 1, 2 and the family ended up staying with Ward. His friends Phil and Layla mentioned to R.P. that there was a place she could stay. This was at a particular vulnerable time for the mother and the family. In Doe 3's recording about smoking marijuana in the motorhome, Ward knew she was alone. He referred to smoking "white stuff." Det. Buihner said that "white is slang for meth." Ward had a conversation with Doe 3 about a "penis shaped bong." While Ward was in the motorhome with Doe 3, heyelled at Doe 5 who was outside and crying and told him to go away. This is Ward's own child. Doe 1 came and took the child away. Ward continued to have a conversation about Doe 3's sex life. On the recording, Ward says that he "trusts Doe 3 but not Doe 1. Doe 3 says that is because he has something on her."
Mr. Bareilles' cross of Det. Buihner failed to impeach him in any way and it was a waste of hours with Mr. Bareiiles constantly misstating testimony, asking the same questions over and over again even though there had been objections by Ms. Schaffer which were sustained by Judge Canning. Mr. Bareiiles outed the Does by stating their names out loud im court. Even after Ms. Schaffer listed the names for him, Mr. Bareilles was confused and Ward had to keep correcting him about the Does. Mr. Bareilles could not remember when search warrants were served or remember a response stated 30 seconds ago.
Mr. Bareilles asked questions of Det. Buihner, "have you ever heard such language ?" This was in reference to Doe 8 describing Ward as a "wierd motherfucker." He asked if Doe 8 had been tested for drugs before the CAST interview. Det. Buihner said he had never seen that done in a CAST interview proceeding.
If this cross examination was not enough of a joke, Mr. Bareilles told Judge Canning, the People and the entire courtroom his trial strategy. Even a lawyer fresh out of law school would not be that dumb.Admitting he cannot prove any of this at the preliminary hearing and with no evidence provided, Mr. Bareilles said, "They all knew each other. They did drugs. This is a put up deal."
Due Deputy Stoner's schedule, there was a stipulation to allow him to testify, then resume cross examination of Det. Buihner who was designated investigating officer for the preliminary hearing and allowed to remain in the courtroom.
Deputy Stoner responded to a call at 9:45 on September 1. "I arrived and spoke to parent RP about questionable text messages on her daughter's phone," said Deputy Stoner. "She had concerns about possible sexual assault of Jane Doe 1."
Deputy Stoner spoke with Jane Doe 2 who was there. Jane Doe 2 heard the conversation Deputy Stoner had with her mother. Jane Doe 2 told Deputy Stoner "she was naked in the hot tub with Darin."
Deputy Stoner spoke with Jane Doe 3 at another location. She disclosed to Deputy Stoner a conversation she had with Ward, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2. Jane Doe 3 had messages which were between Ward and Jane Doe 1 about her.
Jane Doe 3 told Deputy Stoner about an individual conversation with Ward in a van. Jane Doe 3 told Deputy Stoner she sent a photo to Ward at his request. Jane Doe 3 showed Deputy Stoner the photo. Deputy Stoner gave Jane Doe 3 his work phone so she could transfer the photo as evidence. Deputy Stoner than gave Det. Buihner the photo.
Jane Doe 2 had told Deputy Stoner that Ward told her he could sell the photos on the black market. Jane Doe 3 said Ward told her he could sell the photos on the black market for $800. Jane Doe 1 was in the hospital which is the reason Deputy Stoner could not speak with her.
Deputy Stoner was excused and Mr. Bareilles resumed his cross of Det. Buihner. Getting nowhere, he whined and made excuses and instead of concluding the preliminary hearing, it was continued again to October 23.
Previous posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/10/alleged-sex-trafficker-told-doe-1-about.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/10/alleged-sex-trafficker-will-not-waive.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/09/darin-ward-charged-with-10-felonies-4.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/09/darin-ward-arrested-by-hcso-for-sex.html?m=1
Related posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/02/our-offices-review-of-eureka-police.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/02/no-charges-are-being-filed-against.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/01/darin-ward-booked-for-criminal-threats.html?m=1
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