A man who called women “Barbie” before touching them inappropriately has been found guilty of sexual assault at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Peter Rozgonyi had denied the charges, with his solicitor claiming there was no sexual “tone” to his interactions with the women
But, following a two-day trial, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald convicted the 56-year-old of both charges.
During the course of the trial, one of Rozgonyi’s victims told the court how he initially made comments about her body shape which made her “very uncomfortable”.
On one occasion he kissed her on the head, on another he touched her breasts over her clothing when they were in a car together.
‘Get off me’
She said: “I told him to stop, seriously, get off me. He said he was trying to give me a hug from behind.
“I said stop doing that.”
Defence solicitor David Patterson suggested the only comment Rozgonyi had made towards her was calling her “Barbie” and said his client had kissed her in a “friendly, comical way” – a suggestion she disputed.
A second woman told the court Rozgonyi had also nicknamed her “Barbie” and suggested the pair “go away somewhere” together – going into a “huff” when she turned him down.
She said one time was standing still when Rozgonyi began to fiddle with her bra strap over her clothes. On another occasion, he put his hand on her leg in a car.
She also described how Rozgonyi touched her on her bottom with a “grab”.
Asked if she had consented to any of these things she said: “No”.
The court heard that when Rozgonyi was interviewed by police he admitted kissing one of the women on the head.
Nairn man was ‘a bit of a joker’
Mr Patterson said his client, who was assisted by an interpreter throughout the trial, was a Hungarian national and suggested to the witness that some things he said were “lost in translation”.
He also asked if she accepted that Rozgonyi was “a bit of a joker” who perhaps “missed the mark” when trying to be funny – a characterisation she agreed with.
However, when asked about this by fiscal depute Karen Poke, the woman said: “It was still inappropriate.”
Guilty of sexual assault
Finding him guilty of two counts of sexual assault, which took place between November 2020 and June 2021, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald told Rozgonyi, of Union Street, Nairn: “I believe their accounts and what they say happened to them.”
She called for pre-sentencing reports and placed Rozgonyi on the sex offenders register with immediate effect.
