SCHERTZ, Texas – Prosecutors in Bexar County have dismissed a felony charge against a former Schertz Police corporal accused of secretly recording a teenager and engaging in sexually explicit activities with her, after the man was indicted federally for the alleged conduct.
Ricardo Aleman, 42, no longer faces a state charge of invasive visual recording, according to Bexar County court records.
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A copy of a dismissal released to the KSAT 12 Defenders Monday shows that prosecutors dismissed the case Jan. 19, after Aleman was arrested on federal charges late last year.
Aleman’s possible range of punishment increases dramatically in his federal court case, as the state charge of invasive visual recording is only a state jail felony that often results in no jail time for a defendant if he or she accepts a plea deal.
Aleman potentially faces decades in prison if found guilty at a federal trial.
Aleman was removed as a corporal from the Schertz Police Department in January 2020, the same day he was arrested on the invasive recording charge.
He was accused of recording videos on hidden cameras of a teenage girl while she used the bathroom, showered and was naked in her bedroom, according to a Texas Rangers warrant obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders.
The warrant states that Aleman installed the cameras in a Converse home using wiring in the home’s attic.
A relative of the victim found pictures and videos from the cameras stored on an external hard drive in Aleman’s Schertz 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, according to his arrest warrant.
Aleman was indicted late last year on two child pornography charges: sexual exploitation of children (production of child pornography) and possession of child pornography, federal court records show.
If no plea agreement is accepted in the federal case, Aleman is tentatively scheduled to go to trial April 5.
Aleman’s attorney, Matthew Allen, declined to comment Monday.