SAN ANTONIO – A man who had once been sentenced to death for killing a Texas peace officer has now been sentenced on child pornography charges.
On Thursday, Judge Joel Perez of the 437th District Court sentenced 80-year-old Ramsey Clark to 35 years for 19 counts of possession of child pornography.
According to the Bexar County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, Clark is no stranger to crime, having been convicted of the murder of a deputy and his wife in the 1980s.
Clark, previously named Leonard Freeman, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the killing; however, through appeals and a monumental decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, his original conviction was overturned.
He subsequently pled guilty to the lesser offense of Murder with Malice Aforethought, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, which he completed with credit for ‘good time.’
In 2009, he was released from prison, and in 2021, he had his name legally changed to Ramsey Clark, honoring his attorney, who was responsible for getting his original conviction overturned.
“No child should ever be subjected to this kind of exploitation, and we will pursue and prosecute anyone who chooses to engage in that type of inappropriate conduct,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said. “We are grateful for the tireless work of law enforcement and our prosecution team, who played an integral role in ensuring justice was served today.”
The new conviction stems from a report submitted to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children by Google regarding Clark’s uploading of files containing child pornography.
After receiving the report, the Office of the Attorney General’s Southern Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce conducted an investigation and seized Clark’s devices, which led to his confession of viewing and possessing child sexual abuse material.
He will spend the remainder of his life in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.