Ramaswamy campaign to remove convicted Lorain County sex offender from property tax ad

A campaign ad for Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy filmed partly at the Lorain County Fair has been edited to take out a brief appearance by a convicted sex offender. Ramaswamy met voters Aug. 27 at the fair and took questions. Among those he met with was Patty Edwards, who shared her concerns about property taxes, which became the focus for the ad. TheBulwark.com reported that Vernon Edwards, 70, of Amherst appeared briefly in the ad alongside her in what's called B-roll footage, video that's supplemental to the main narrative. A convicted sex offender in both Lorain County and Cuyahoga County, Edwards has been removed from the ad, the Ramaswamy campaign told The Chronicle-Telegram. "This ad was based on a real interaction between Vivek and an Ohio woman who was distraught at a county fair because she may have to move out of her home due to rising property taxes," Vivek for Ohio campaign spokesman Evan Machan said in a statement provided to the newspaper. "We had no knowledge of the circumstances now being reported. The man has been removed from the ad. "The fact of the matter is that property taxes are insanely high and causing many Ohioans to consider moving out of their homes," Machan said in the campaign's statement. "Vivek is the leader who will fix it." Ramaswamy's Democratic opponent on Nov. 3 is Dr. Amy Acton. "Vivek Ramaswamy deliberately choosing to amplify a convicted pedophile is not only disgusting, it's completely disqualifying," Acton campaign spokeswoman Addie Bullock said in a statement provided to The Chronicle. "The decision to spend millions platforming a sex offender is par for the course for Ramaswamy," Bullock said. "He campaigns with convicted sex offenders, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Jeffrey Epstein conspirators and has spent his campaign mocking Dr. Amy Acton for being a victim of childhood sexual abuse. People that excuse pedophilia have no business being governor." "Vernon Edwards greeted Ramaswamy with a handshake, and the candidate complimented his patriotic shirt," TheBulwark.com reported. The campaign took down social media posts featuring Vernon Edwards, the website reported. It noted that campaigns often do background checks and research on people they feature in campaign ads. A Google search for Vernon Edwards "would have shown (him) appearing to wear the exact same patriotic shirt in the sex offender registry as the one Ramaswamy complimented him for wearing when they met at the fair," TheBulwark.com reported. Vernon Edwards, then 60, pleaded guilty in October 2006 to two counts of gross sexual imposition, both felonies, in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and labeled a sexual predator. Gross sexual imposition is the crime of having nonconsensual sexual contact with someone, and Vernon Edwards was accused of assaulting an underage female family member, according to court records. He appealed his sentence, but the 8th District Court of Appeals upheld it. "At the sentencing hearing, it was revealed that Edwards had molested several other" alleged victims, Judge Patricia Ann Blackmon wrote in the appeals court's 2007 decision. "However, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, charges were never brought" on behalf of the other victims. The Chronicle-Telegram does not identify victims of sexual assault. Late in 2006, Vernon Edwards also pleaded guilty in Lorain County Common Pleas Court to one count of gross sexual imposition. Judge Mark Betleski sentenced him to one year in prison, to run concurrently with the prison time he received in Cuyahoga County. In 2016, after his release from prison, Vernon Edwards tried to get his sexual predator status overturned in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Judge Nancy Margaret Russo denied the request, according to court records. Vernon Edwards remains on Lorain County's list of registered sex offenders. Contact Dave O'Brien at 440-329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.