The Court of Appeal has declined to grant a request for access to a character reference submitted by an ex-TD on behalf of a former government adviser convicted of sexually exploiting a boy at a Christian children’s camp.
At the appeal hearing last week, Judge John Edwards noted that not a “single one” of those who provided a reference for Daniel Ramamoorthy (40) mentioned the 13-year-old victim or the “vile nature” of the crime and mentioned that one of those who had submitted character references was a TD.
The comment led to widespread speculation as to the identify of the person, but the court documents have yet to be released to the media.
On Tuesday, responding to an application on behalf of The Irish Times from solicitor Matthew Austin, of Hayes Solicitors, for access to the character reference, the judge said the reference came from a former TD and did not stand out from the others submitted on behalf of the convicted man.
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He made his comment after delivering the court’s rejection of an appeal from Ramamoorthy against the severity of the sentence. Ramamoorthy had pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was found guilty by a jury of the sexual exploitation of a child.
In relation to the latter crime he was given a sentence of two years and four months, and a lesser, concurrent sentence in relation to the child pornography offence.
Ramamoorthy’s lawyers had suggested the sentence was excessive and argued that the sentencing judge had failed to give sufficient weight to their client’s “exceptional background” and history of public service and his previous pro-social life.
In rejecting the appeal, the court noted the appellant had not taken responsibility for the offending, there was no acceptance of fault or criminal liability, no acknowledgment of the impact of his conduct on the victim, and no “earnest” remorse.
Edwards said that although Ramamoorthy was a first-time offender, there was little to support a suggestion his offending was “aberrational and truly out of character”.
On the contrary, the judge said, there are many “red flags” suggesting the 40-year-old has “an abnormal sexual interest in children”.
Refusing the application from The Irish Times, the judge said a large number of references had been provided and the court had accurately summarised the effect of these which was that they “speak to the previous pro-social conduct” of the appellant. He said beyond that, there was nothing in them that required to be disclosed.
Addressing the media coverage of the case since last week’s appeal hearing, Edwards said the court “doesn’t live in a teapot” and was aware from recent media coverage that there had been “some level of interest” in the fact that a TD had provided a reference for Ramamoorthy. The judge said the reference was in fact to a former TD.
He said the comments were uniform to the effect that none of the testimonials “referred to the victim or the nature of the crime”.
“The particular reference was no different from the others,” he said.
In rejecting Ramamoorthy’s appeal, Edwards noted the appellant’s good work record and evidence of his “pro-social life”.
“It is clear that this appellant has done much good in his life, and has fundraised and engaged in philanthropy in support of many charitable and community-based organisations and ventures,” said the judge.
“He has also given of his time to working in church or faith-based initiatives, although sight cannot be lost of the fact that he used one of these as the opportunity and vehicle for committing the offending at the centre of this case.”
However, he said evidence of previous pro-social living could carry “only modest weight” in the absence of the offender accepting his wrongdoing, acknowledging the suffering caused to the victim, and showing a “desire and willingness on his part to work towards rehabilitation”.
Ramamoorthy was convicted following two Circuit Criminal Court trials of one count of sexually exploiting the child in 2017 by asking him to send a picture of his penis over Snapchat. A jury in the first trial failed to reach a verdict.
Ramamoorthy, with a previous address at Whitebarn Road, Rathfarnham, and Wolnzach, Germany, also pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material, referred to in law as child pornography.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Ramamoorthy was found with three images and one video depicting young boys engaged in sexual activity with each other and with an unknown adult man. He continues to maintain his innocence in relation to the sexual exploitation offence.
Ramamoorthy, described in court as a motivational speaker, social media influencer and entrepreneur, had at one point acted as an adviser to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on start-ups, his sentencing hearing was told.
He is the son of a diplomat and was educated at Yale University in the US.
