by | Published
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Bexar County Judge Joel Perez of the 437th District Court has sentenced 80-year-old Ramsey Joshua Clark to 35 years in prison following his conviction on 19 counts of possession of child pornography.
The conviction stems from a report initiated by Google to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding Clark's uploading of files containing child pornography. Sergeant Rodney Harrington of the Office of the Attorney General's Southern Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce conducted the investigation, seizing Clark's devices and obtaining his confession to viewing and possessing child sexual abuse material.
Defendant's Violent History
The sentencing reveals a shocking criminal background:
Prior Capital Murder Conviction: In the 1980s, Clark, then known as Leonard Freeman, was convicted of capital murder for the killing of a peace officer and his wife and initially sentenced to death.
Overturned Conviction: Due to appeals and a U.S. Supreme Court decision, his conviction was overturned. He later pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of Murder with Malice Aforethought and was released from his 99-year sentence in 2009 with credit for "good time."
Name Change: In 2021, he legally changed his name to Ramsey Clark, honoring the attorney who secured the overturn of his original capital murder conviction.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales commented on the sentence: "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."
The prosecution team was led by Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Samantha Lynn Brown and Andrea Crespo.
