The Court of Appeal has upheld the prison sentences imposed on Daniel Ramamoorthy for sexually exploiting a 13-year-old boy and possessing child abuse material.
In a judgment delivered on 21 April 2026, the court dismissed Ramamoorthy’s appeal against sentences imposed by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 24 March 2025.
Ramamoorthy had been convicted by a jury of sexual exploitation of a child after evidence that, while acting as an adult volunteer leader at a Scripture Union Easter camp in County Wicklow, he later communicated with the boy on Snapchat. During a game of Truth or Dare, he asked the child an explicit question, requested an intimate photograph and sent an unsolicited image of his own pubic area.
The complainant was 13 and Ramamoorthy was 31 at the time. The Court of Appeal said the significant age gap, the breach of trust involved in his role as a camp leader and his use of social media to escalate the interaction were important aggravating factors.
Ramamoorthy received a headline sentence of three years for sexual exploitation, reduced to two years and four months. The appeal court held that this was within the sentencing judge’s discretion, although towards the upper end of the available range for this lower-end example of the offence.
A search of Ramamoorthy’s home in July 2018 also led Gardaí to recover three images and one video of child abuse material from deleted areas of a laptop hard drive. He later pleaded guilty to possession. He received an 18-month sentence on that count, concurrent with the exploitation sentence.
The Court of Appeal also rejected his argument that part of the sentences should have been suspended. It said there was no sufficient evidential basis showing acceptance of wrongdoing, insight into the harm caused or a structured treatment or rehabilitation plan.
The practical effect is that Ramamoorthy’s original custodial sentence remains unchanged. Both sentence appeals were dismissed.