A motivational speaker, social media influencer and one-time government department adviser sexually exploited a teenage boy he met while volunteering as a Christian children’s camp guide, a court has heard.
Daniel Ramamoorthy (38) was found guilty by a jury of one count of sexually exploiting the child in 2017 by asking him to send him a picture of his penis over Snapchat, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. The case had to be heard twice, after the jury in the first trial last year failed to reach an agreement. He was convicted following a second trial last month.
Ramamoorthy, with an address at Whitebarn Road, Rathfarnham, and also in Germany, had also been due to stand trial on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material, known in law as child pornography.
He pleaded guilty to this charge before the trial started. He continues to maintain his innocence in relation to the sexual exploitation offence.
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Ramamoorthy, who was described in court as a motivational speaker, a social media influencer and an entrepreneur, acted at one point as an adviser to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the area of start-ups, defence counsel, Seoirse O Dúnlaing SC, said. He is the son of a diplomat and was educated in Yale in the USA.
He was jailed on Monday for two years and four months by Judge Sinéad McMullen, who described the sexual exploitation offence as a serious breach of trust.
She said Ramamoorthy was acting as a mentor and a leader in the camp when he met the victim, “who should have been safe with him”. She noted there was a significant age disparity between Ramamoorthy and his victim, who was just 13 at the time.
In relation to the child sexual abuse material, Judge McMullen noted Ramamoorthy was found with three images and one video which depicted young boys engaged in sexual activity with each other and an unknown adult man.
“Child pornography, more appropriately described these days as images of child sexual abuse, is a product of child abuse,” the judge said. “These are horrifying images of child abuse. If people like the accused didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be a market for such images.”
The judge set a headline sentence of three years for the exploitation charge, which she reduced to two years and four months, taking mitigation into account. She set a sentence of 18 months for the possession charge and ordered that both sentences run concurrently.
The court heard Ramamoorthy will be placed on the sex offender’s register and that he will not be entitled to remain in Ireland upon his release.
At an earlier sentence hearing, Detective Inspector Sean White told Shaun Smyth BL, prosecuting, that the victim in the case first met Ramamoorthy when he was volunteering at a Christian camp, where he was described as “very friendly, charismatic and popular”.
In a victim impact statement which was read out by counsel, the victim said he now has a lack of trust in others and is suspicious of people’s motives. He said he found the two trials extremely stressful and he had to place his life on hold for a period of time as a result.
He said Ramamoorthy had tried to discredit him and say he was lying. He said he has suffered many sleepless nights thinking about what could have happened if he had engaged further with Ramamoorthy online.
The court heard Ramamoorthy is an Indian national and, as the son of a diplomat, spent most of his life living in different countries, including the UAE, Yemen, Zimbabwe and Mexico. He studied in Yale and comes from a very religious Christian background.
He has worked in the areas of coaching, public speaking and personal development and travels around for work, the court heard. While living in Ireland, he was involved in trade relations between Ireland and India and advised the Department of Trade and Enterprise in relation to entrepreneurs and start-up companies, defence counsel said.
Ramamoorthy’s elderly parents now live in the UAE and as a result of his convictions, he will not be granted a visa to visit them, the court heard. His conviction means he will also be denied access to a number of countries where he has previously worked.
