On November 2, 2021, the Debrecen Tribunal announced a verdict in a public hearing in the case of the accused who insulted a minor girl in Balmazújváros.
According to the announcement of the Debrecen General Court, the court of second instance upheld the judgment of the Debrecen District Court of 13 May 2021 in the criminal proceedings initiated for the crime of sexual coercion.
The tribunal finally sentenced the accused to 2 years in prison, the execution of which was suspended for 5 years at the statutory maximum.
In addition, the court definitively prohibited the accused from engaging in any occupation or activity related to the education, supervision, care, and medical treatment of persons under the age of 18.
According to the facts legally established by the court, the 12-year-old victim was riding a bicycle in Balmazújváros on September 17, 2019, at around 4:30 p.m., when he met the accused.
The accused turned to the little girl and then called on the little girl to kiss him. The cycling minor did not want to talk to the accused or kiss him. The man didn’t care, he just walked past the victim, who grabbed her ass with both hands, then stroked her arm, and then even grabbed the minor’s chest.
The frightened victim yelled at the man and called on him to stop doing so. The victim would have accelerated with his bicycle, but its rear boot was grabbed by the accused. The man then stroked the victim’s ass again and demanded a kiss. The little girl then slapped the accused’s hand and drove off her bike quickly. The accused ran after the victim for a while, however, he could no longer catch up. When the little girl felt safe she called her mother and then they reported the incident to the police.
Dr. Antal Nagy, chairman of the penal council, said that due to the appeals, the case had been completely reviewed, during which the court of the second instance did not find any absolute or relative violation. The judge stressed that one of the important moments of the crime was when the accused grabbed the rear trunk of the victim’s bicycle so that the minor victim could not leave the scene. This categorized the act as a crime of sexual coercion and therefore the finding of the humiliation reported by the defense in one direction of his appeal could not be upheld.
In his reasoning, the judge explained:
the court of first instance erred in not finding an aggravating circumstance in respect of the accused.
The proliferation of sexual offenses is a circumstance that is aggravated in any way. However, a criminal record is not mitigating because of the accused young adult’s age, whereas the accused young adult’s age is an emphatic mitigating circumstance. The requirement of individualization was given prominent emphasis during the judgment. The torque of the mitigating circumstances on the offender’s side is greater than that of the aggravating circumstances, so the tribunal took the view that the sentence imposed by the district court was proportionate to the purpose of the sentence and therefore upheld it.
The decision of the court is final.
debrecenitorvenyszek.birosag.hu
Picture: illustration.
