A MAN HAS avoided jail for groping a teenage girl during a sexual assault at a bus stop in Dublin and has been barred from “unsupervised contact with children”.

Anatol Botnari, 24, of Sorrell Heath, Clonsilla, Dublin, originally from Moldova, denied the charge and claimed he “bumped” into the 14-year-old girl in the city’s north side on 4 February, 2022, after getting drunk.

However, in a non-jury trial at Dublin District Court, Judge Monika Leech heard that Botnari put his hand on the girl’s vagina over her clothing.

She did not accept the traffic maintenance worker’s claim that he put his arms around her to prevent himself from falling.

Convicting him, she said CCTV evidence contradicted his account and noted the girl’s fear was “palpable” when she gave evidence.

The offence dealt with in the District Court carries a maximum one-year prison term.

Judge Leech imposed a six-month sentence but suspended it with conditions that he did not re-offend for two years and had “no contact with any minor or without supervision including in activities where children are present”.

He must stay out of the district where the offence happened.

He eventually accepted the ruling after she rendered a guilty verdict.

Judge Leech noted he had no previous convictions, that a group of people in the community had “administered their own form of punishment”, and that he would be on the sex offenders register.

Judge Leech warned him to cooperate with Probation Service supervision and engage in any victim awareness programme deemed relevant, adding that the case would re-entered if he broke the terms.

However, defence solicitor Darren Gray said his client now accepted the conviction, had been hospitalised for depression, and lost his job.

His father had come over to assist, and Botnari wished to return to Moldova to get help for his mental health issues.

For most of the five and a half months since his trial, he did not accept the ruling, which had affected his engagement with the Probation Service.

Mr Gray said Botnari still suffered head pains, claiming they resulted from the beating given to him by a group in the community just after he attacked the girl.

He said his client had consumed a large amount of alcohol at the time.

Garda Conor Garland told the court the incident happened between 9 pm and 9.20 pm on the date in question.

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.”

Locals learned about the attack and set on Botnari, who suffered head injuries and was hospitalised. Botnari was then arrested, and a file was sent to the DPP.

Judge Leech had said the teen was a reliable witness, and her evidence was consistent with accounts given in the aftermath to friends, a family member, and Garda Garland.

She noted that Botnari had been in the area for some time and that he had taken a large quantity of alcohol.

“I do not accept the accused tripped”, she had said, adding that video evidence showed he directly approached her with intent to commit the sexual assault by placing his hand on her vagina area over her clothing.

The defence had said it seemed completely out of the norm for him.