TV anchor charged in child-porn sting

San Antonio station puts suspect on leave By David McLemore / The Dallas Morning News SAN ANTONIO â€“ Gerry Grant, a veteran San Antonio TV personality and weekend anchor at

Wednesday, October 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

San Antonio station puts suspect on leave

By David McLemore / The Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO â€“ Gerry Grant, a veteran San Antonio TV personality and weekend anchor at KSAT-TV, was free on a $100,000 bond Tuesday following his overnight arrest on a charge of child-pornography possession.

According to police, city vice detectives working a child-pornography sting operation at a North Side motel saw Mr. Grant sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Monday night buying photos of nude children engaged in sexual activity.

When Mr. Grant was arrested after leaving the motel, authorities found four photographs of nude children, ages 6 to 12, in various sexual poses, according to the report.

Police public information officer Sgt. Gabriel Trevino said the arrest was part of a continuing investigation and declined to comment further.

KSAT vice president and general manager Jim Joslyn issued a brief written statement about Mr. Grant's arrest.

"We are very deeply concerned by the allegations and will fully cooperate with the San Antonio Police Department investigation," Mr. Joslyn said. "Until the matter is resolved, Gerry Grant is on temporary leave of absence from his duties at KSAT."

Mr. Grant, 41, was taken before Magistrate Judge Daniel Guerrero and charged with one count of possession of child pornography and jailed overnight in lieu of $100,000 bail. Mr. Grant made bond shortly before noon Tuesday. The charge is a third-degree felony that carries a maximum of 10 years upon conviction.

Judge Guerrero also ordered Mr. Grant to undergo a psychological evaluation. During the brief hearing, Mr. Grant remained silent and kept his head bowed. He declined to comment after he left jail.

Mr. Grant's arrest led the noon newscasts Tuesday on KSAT, San Antonio's ABC affiliate, and rival station KENS-TV, the Belo-owned CBS affiliate. The arrest stunned Mr. Grant's co-workers at KSAT, officials said. He has served as KSAT's weekend anchorman since 1998.

In addition to KSAT, Mr. Grant has also worked at KENS, where he began his broadcasting career in the mid-1980s. He moved to KMOL-TV, the city's NBC affiliate, as lead anchor in the early 1990s, then left for a stint as a reporter in Los Angeles for the syndicated program Entertainment Tonight.

He returned to San Antonio in 1998, where he worked as the morning and noon anchor at KSAT before moving to the weekend anchor position.