Former Fianna Fáil TD Jim Glennon has confirmed that he submitted a character reference for Daniel Ramamoorthy, a former government adviser who was convicted of the sexual exploitation of a 13-year-old boy in 2017.
Last week, Ramamoorthy lost an appeal against the severity of a two years and four months' sentence imposed on him in March last year.
In a statement issued by a PR company today, Mr Glennon said that it had been "an error of judgment" to write the reference and he offered an "unreserved apology to the victim and to their family" if he had added to their pain and distress.
At Ramamoorthy's initial appeal hearing the previous week, Judge John Edwards had said one of the testimonials handed in on his behalf was from a TD and that it was "quite extraordinary" that he and others failed to mention the victim or the "vile nature" of the crime in their references.
The court refused to grant an application by a solicitor from The Irish Times to release the references last week, but Mr Glennon, who was TD for Dublin North from 2002-2007 and is a former Ireland rugby international, has now confirmed that he was the TD in question.
"I confirm that I am the former TD who submitted a character reference for the convicted Daniel Ramamoorthy, as referred to by the judge in the Court of Criminal Appeal earlier this week," Mr Glennon said.
"The crimes committed by Mr Ramamoorthy were vile and of the most egregious nature. I offer my unreserved apology to the victim and to their family. Writing the letter was an error of judgement.
"I recognise that my actions may have added to the pain and distress already caused by the horrific abuse they endured, and I am deeply sorry for contributing to their suffering.
"I failed to give proper weight to the gravity of the crimes, to the trauma experienced by the victim and their family, and the courage it takes to report such abuse. I was extremely naive and I was wrong.
"I will be writing to the family of the victim, through the Courts Service, to express my sincere apologies directly.
"I will also be resigning from any and all employment, consultancies, and directorships that I currently hold."
RTÉ News made repeated efforts to contact Mr Glennon via phone, text message and calls to his PR representatives over the last week.
