Ex-school cop gets 15 years for recording teen
A former school police officer was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for illegally recording a teenage girl in the nude.
Ricardo Aleman, 44, a corporal with the Schertz Police Department, was fired during an investigation that found he used hidden cameras to record a teenage girl while she used the bathroom, showered and was naked in her bedroom.
“I'd like to apologize to you and to everyone in this courtroom,” Aleman told Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia. “I do take responsibility for it. I want to say sorry to my family, to the victim's family ... and to the victim herself.”
Court records show Aleman installed the cameras in a Converse home using wiring in the home's attic.
A relative of the victim found pictures and videos stored on an external hard drive in Aleman's police patrol vehicle, the warrant states.
Aleman was one of four resource officers designated to the Schertz Cibolo Universal City Independent School District and was specifically assigned to Samuel Clemens High School.
He was initially charged in state court with invasive visual recording, but prosecutors dismissed that charge in January after Aleman was indicted in November 2020 in federal court on charges of production of child pornography and possession of child pornography.
He pleaded guilty in June to production of child pornography, which carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson told the judge that her office did not oppose the lower recommended term of 15 years.
Defense lawyer Matthe Allen said Aleman wants get counseling “for this problem” and is full of shame and remorse.