JonBenét Ramsey Photographer
Child Porn Conviction Overturned
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A photographer who took pictures of JonBenét Ramsey just months before she was found dead in her Colorado home won a big legal victory … as the Oregon State Supreme Court overturned his child sex conviction.
Here’s the deal … Randall D. Simons was arrested in November 2019 after cops accused him of “regularly accessing images of child pornography” on a public Wi-Fi network at a local A&W restaurant, according to local reports. He was convicted in 2021 on 15 counts of first-degree encouraging child sex abuse.
Simons took his case to the state supreme court … which found the police’s year-long investigation of him violated his right to privacy under the Oregon State Constitution.
The Court held that the state constitution protects its citizens’ right to privacy … a right it says Simons still had, even after agreeing to A&W’s terms of service — which prohibited the transmission of obscene materials and illegal activity and allowed the company to cooperate with law enforcement.
The Oregon State Supreme Court ruled the case now has to go back to the Lane County Circuit Court … which must now consider how to suppress certain evidence in light of the higher court’s decision.
To be clear … Simons’ arrest and conviction have nothing to do with JonBenét Ramsey. The pictures he took of her in 1996 — which he sold in 1997 after her mysterious death — showed her fully clothed in a pageant outfit.
The photos did lead to criticism of child pageants at the time … and, according to The Associated Press, Simons reportedly said at the time of the controversy that he’d never work again.