The Debrecen Regional Court, acting as a second-instance court, delivered its judgment in a closed session on January 15, 2026, in the case of a defendant who indecently touched a woman in an elevator.
At first instance, the Debrecen District Court delivered its verdict at a public hearing on November 20, 2025, finding the defendant guilty of the misdemeanor of indecent assault. The 47-year-old man was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months of imprisonment to be served in prison and was banned from exercising public affairs for three years. At the time, the prosecutor accepted the judgment, while the defendant and his defense counsel appealed for a reduction of the sentence, which is why the case was referred to the Regional Court.
According to the Debrecen Regional Court, the court of first instance correctly assessed both the mitigating and aggravating circumstances and found no possibility of imposing a more lenient sentence in the case of a multiple repeat offender. Therefore, it upheld the decision of the Debrecen District Court, which has thus become final and binding.
As aggravating circumstances, the court took into account the increasing prevalence—both nationwide and locally—of similar offenses against sexual freedom and sexual morality, as well as the fact that the defendant’s prior convictions were for offenses of a similar nature, likewise committed against sexual freedom and sexual morality. At the same time, the court attached significant mitigating weight to the fact that the defendant consistently admitted to committing the offense throughout the proceedings.
According to the final judgment, at around 10:50 a.m. on June 2, 2024, the defendant was walking on the sidewalk on Kishegyesi Road in Debrecen when the victim passed him on the adjacent bicycle path while riding her bicycle. The defendant found the woman attractive and, after the victim arrived in front of an apartment building and dismounted from her bicycle, he ran after her.
When the woman opened the entrance door of the apartment building, the defendant held the door open and waited until she entered the stairwell. The victim, pushing her bicycle beside her, got into the elevator, which the defendant also followed, stepping in behind her. After the elevator started moving, the defendant grabbed the victim’s buttocks, then lifted her skirt and continued to grope her. The frightened woman repeatedly told the defendant to stop. When she raised her voice, the defendant covered the victim’s mouth with his right hand while continuing to touch her buttocks with his left hand.
The woman then managed—by a manner that cannot be precisely determined—to move away from the defendant and stepped to the other side of her bicycle. Using the bicycle and extending her right leg, she kept the defendant at a distance while loudly shouting for help. The defendant attempted to calm the woman and then ceased his actions. When the elevator stopped on the fourth floor of the apartment building, the man exited the elevator and left the scene.
(Debrecen Court)
Picture: illustration.
