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FARMINGTON — A longtime, popular doctor in Bountiful was charged Monday with 11 felonies accusing him of sexually abusing children.
Nathan Clark Ward, 55, is charged in 2nd District Court with sodomy on a child, aggravated sex abuse of a child and forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies; plus two counts of forcible sex abuse and six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies.
An initial court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
Ward sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in 2012 in Davis County, according to charging documents.
Between 2012 and 2015 he is also charged with sexually abusing a girl only described in court documents as "a minor female." Ward "occupied a position of special trust to this minor female," the charges state, but prosecutors do not indicate in the court documents if the girl was one of Ward's patients.
The charges also say that "between January and September 2016, (Ward) possessed, viewed, or shared at least six images of child pornography."
Ward was originally arrested July 20 for investigation of child pornography. He was re-arrested Friday afternoon and held in the Davis County Jail on no bail for investigation of sex abuse of a child.
Ward specialized in obstetrics and gynecology. He has been in practice for more than 25 years. He was suspended from Lakeview Hospital following his first arrest.
In his original arrest, a probable cause report stated that Ward was being investigated for online conversations in which he allegedly discussed raping young girls, ages 13 and 15, and "describes desires to rape females and minors."
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Bountiful doctor arrested in child porn investigation
A Bountiful doctor has been arrested in an investigation involving child pornography.The investigation into Ward began in November of 2016 when possible sexually exploitative images of children were detected being uploaded at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, the report states.
Over the course of the eight-month investigation, an email address that was created in 2002 in Idaho was allegedly linked to Ward. The investigation found IP addresses associated with that account linked to Lakeview Hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare hospital (possibly LDS Hospital), St. Mark's Hospital and Ward's home, according to the report.
Investigators also found that the email account owner "engaged in several conversations online by instant messenger and email as well as Craigslist ads. The conversations are explicit in nature," deputies wrote.
"The suspect discloses that he has raped a 15-year-old who was drunk on vodka, after her father 'set it up.' The suspect also states he raped a 13-year-old," according to messages from August of 2016, the report states.
