Oregon Supreme Court Reverses Child Porn Conviction of JonBenét Ramsey Photographer
SALEM, Ore. (March 26, 2026) — In a landmark privacy ruling, the Oregon Supreme Court today overturned the conviction of Randall DeWitt Simons, the former photographer who took some of the last known images of murdered child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, finding that police violated his state constitutional rights by secretly monitoring his internet activity for more than a year over a public restaurant Wi-Fi network.
Simons, now 73, was convicted in 2019 of 15 counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse after authorities used logs from an Oakridge, Oregon A&W restaurant’s free Wi-Fi to track 255,723 of his webpage visits. The data allegedly showed visits to sites containing child pornography. No warrant was obtained for the surveillance.
Writing for the majority in State v. DeWitt Simons, 375 Or 70 (2026), Justice James held that Article I, section 9 of the Oregon Constitution protects a person’s privacy interest in their internet browsing activity, even when using a public Wi-Fi hotspot that the user neither owns nor controls. The court rejected the state’s argument that Simons had no reasonable expectation of privacy because he connected to the A&W network after clicking through terms-of-service notices warning that the business might monitor traffic and cooperate with law enforcement.
“[T]he mere fact that a person accesses the internet through a public network does not eliminate the Article I, section 9, right to privacy that exists for one’s internet browsing activities,” the court ruled. “Nor do terms-of-service provisions such as were present here eliminate that right to privacy.”
The opinion emphasized that modern life requires internet access, often through third-party networks, and that society does not accept the idea of unrestricted government surveillance simply because a private business could theoretically monitor the traffic.
“Participation in the modern world virtually requires access to the internet,” the court noted, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent on smartphones and daily life. It drew parallels to earlier Oregon cases protecting privacy in garbage left at the curb and attorney-client emails stored on employer servers.
The court also agreed with the trial judge that the A&W owner and its private IT consultant acted as state agents when they cooperated with police for a full year, providing detailed logs, setting up email alerts for flagged sites, and even capturing packet data that reconstructed specific online activity. That coordinated effort turned the private monitoring into an unconstitutional warrantless search.
The decision reverses the Court of Appeals and sends the case back to Lane County Circuit Court for further proceedings. A partial dissent was filed by Justice Bushong.
The ruling is expected to have broad implications for digital privacy in Oregon, particularly in an era when public Wi-Fi is commonplace in restaurants, libraries, and businesses. Legal experts following the case said it reinforces Oregon’s independent and more protective approach to privacy rights compared to federal Fourth Amendment standards.
Simons, who photographed JonBenét Ramsey in the months before her 1996 death in Boulder, Colorado, had no prior criminal record related to the Ramsey case. He has maintained his innocence on the child pornography charges.
Mugshot from 2019
Simons, now 73, was convicted in 2019 of 15 counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse after authorities used logs from an Oakridge, Oregon A&W restaurant’s free Wi-Fi to track 255,723 of his webpage visits. The data allegedly showed visits to sites containing child pornography. No warrant was obtained for the surveillance.
Writing for the majority in State v. DeWitt Simons, 375 Or 70 (2026), Justice James held that Article I, section 9 of the Oregon Constitution protects a person’s privacy interest in their internet browsing activity, even when using a public Wi-Fi hotspot that the user neither owns nor controls. The court rejected the state’s argument that Simons had no reasonable expectation of privacy because he connected to the A&W network after clicking through terms-of-service notices warning that the business might monitor traffic and cooperate with law enforcement.
“[T]he mere fact that a person accesses the internet through a public network does not eliminate the Article I, section 9, right to privacy that exists for one’s internet browsing activities,” the court ruled. “Nor do terms-of-service provisions such as were present here eliminate that right to privacy.”
The opinion emphasized that modern life requires internet access, often through third-party networks, and that society does not accept the idea of unrestricted government surveillance simply because a private business could theoretically monitor the traffic.
“Participation in the modern world virtually requires access to the internet,” the court noted, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent on smartphones and daily life. It drew parallels to earlier Oregon cases protecting privacy in garbage left at the curb and attorney-client emails stored on employer servers.
The court also agreed with the trial judge that the A&W owner and its private IT consultant acted as state agents when they cooperated with police for a full year, providing detailed logs, setting up email alerts for flagged sites, and even capturing packet data that reconstructed specific online activity. That coordinated effort turned the private monitoring into an unconstitutional warrantless search.
The decision reverses the Court of Appeals and sends the case back to Lane County Circuit Court for further proceedings. A partial dissent was filed by Justice Bushong.
The ruling is expected to have broad implications for digital privacy in Oregon, particularly in an era when public Wi-Fi is commonplace in restaurants, libraries, and businesses. Legal experts following the case said it reinforces Oregon’s independent and more protective approach to privacy rights compared to federal Fourth Amendment standards.
Simons, who photographed JonBenét Ramsey in the months before her 1996 death in Boulder, Colorado, had no prior criminal record related to the Ramsey case. He has maintained his innocence on the child pornography charges.
Mugshot from 2019
Michael Weber, known for his extensive coverage of crime news in Lane County, continues to provide valuable updates to the local community. He runs the largest crime watch group in Lane County, Lane County Mugshots Uncensored, which currently has over 90,800 members. Support for local journalism is essential, and donations can be made via Venmo to @Michael-Weber-379 (last four digits of phone number: 0825).
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