Former ACT attorney-general Gordon Ramsay has faced the ACT Magistrates Court today, charged with grooming a teenage boy.
The 61-year-old is accused of encouraging a young person to commit an act of a sexual nature between 2022 and 2024.
Mr Ramsay’s lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on his client’s behalf.
Police told the court they first received information about the allegations from an anonymous tip-off in April.
The alleged victim gave a formal statement to police in September.
Police said they arrested Mr Ramsay last night, and conducted search warrants on his home and car, seizing electronic devices.
His lawyers are seeking bail, which is not expected to be decided until later in the day.
Career in politics, ministry
Mr Ramsay in 2020, shortly after losing his seat in the ACT election. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Mr Ramsay was a Labor MLA between 2016 and 2020, when he lost his seat.
He held several portfolios, including attorney-general and arts minister.
During his time in the assembly, Mr Ramsay focused on social issues such as poverty, gambling and criminalising elder abuse.
More recently, he has been the chief executive of the Cultural Facilities Corporation in Canberra.
Before politics, Mr Ramsay worked as a lawyer in commercial and intellectual property, and later became a minister at the Uniting Church in Kippax, in Canberra’s north-west.
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