A guy who sexually assaulted a young girl at a Dublin bus stop has been prohibited from having “unsupervised contact with children” but has escaped jail time, reports RTE.
Anatol Botnari, 24, of Sorrell Heath, Clonsilla, Dublin, who is originally from Moldova, refuted the accusation and stated that on February 4, 2022, after drinking, he “bumped” into the 14-year-old girl in the city’s north side.
Judge Monika Leech, however, heard during a non-jury hearing at Dublin District Court that Botnari touched the girl’s vagina despite her garments, reports RTE.
The road maintenance worker said he wrapped his arms over her to keep himself from falling, but she did not believe him.
In finding him guilty, Judge Leech said that the girl’s terror was “palpable” during her testimony and that CCTV footage refuted his version of events.
The maximum sentence for the offence heard in District Court is one year in jail.
A six-month sentence was given by Judge Leech, although it was postponed for two years provided he did not commit another crime and kept “no contact with any minor or without supervision including in activities where children are present.” He needs to avoid the area where the offence took place, reports RTE.
She found him guilty, and finally he accepted the decision.
Judge Leech observed that he was going to be added to the sex offenders registry, that he had no prior convictions, and that some members of the community had “administered their own form of punishment”.
Judge Leech issued a warning, stating that the case would be reopened if he disregarded the conditions, requiring him to participate in any victim awareness program and cooperate with Probation Service monitoring, reports RTE.
Defence attorney Darren Grey, however, said that his client had lost his job, been sent to the hospital for depression, and now accepted the conviction.
Botnari wanted to go back to Moldova to receive treatment for his mental health problems, and his father had come over to help.
He refused to accept the decision for the most of the five and a half months after his trial, which had an impact on his interactions with the Probation Service, reports RTE.
Mr. Grey claimed that Botnari’s ongoing headaches were caused by the beating he received from a neighbourhood group shortly after attacking the girl.
According to him, his client had been drinking heavily at the time.
Police Conor Garland testified in court that the incident occurred on the relevant day between 9 and 9.20 p.m.
He said: “While standing at a bus stop, he put his arm around the waist of a 14-year-old girl and touched her on the vagina over her clothing,” reports RTE.
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