László Donáth, who had no criminal record, insisted on his right to a trial, and did not accept the non-trial sentence of 19 February 2021, which established the accused’s responsibility for the crime of bodily harm and the continuing offense of humiliation. The order sentenced him to 1 year 6 months imprisonment, suspending the execution of the sentence for 2 years six months. Donáth submitted a request for a hearing, which was accepted by the court.
According to the indictment, abusing the defendant’s leadership position and position of power, from May 2017, the victim, who worked as a cleaning lady in a church-run Star Mountain institution in remote locations, touched her body several times during her work against her will, making sexual offers. The victim, according to the indictment, refused to approach the accused every time, but did not report the incident, except in the last case, to his work supervisor. He testified that he did not indicate it because he “feared his existence” because of the defendant’s leadership position.
According to the indictment, the victim left the cleaning equipment storage car in front of a painting on another occasion, despite the fact that the accused had previously banned him. When the defendant noticed that the victim had violated his instructions, he held him accountable, then threatened him and grabbed his neck with both hands, which he squeezed with a small force for a short time. A finding was made of the injury, which classified the injury as healing within eight days.
At Friday’s preparatory trial, the accused, Lutheran pastor László Donáth, agreed to be photographed and sounded by the press, and the victim, a young woman with short brown hair who appeared in a denim jacket at the trial, did not consent to the image or sound recording. The victim will appear as Witness No. 2 in the criminal trial, and his name may not be heard at his request. At the preparatory hearing, the victim’s legal representative made a statement to a judicial question stating that the victim did not wish to file a civil lawsuit in the criminal case, i.e. did not seek damages.
László Donáth is also defended by two lawyers in the lawsuit. One of them was Péter Bárándy, the former Minister of Justice, who proposed the hearing of employees of the church institution involved in the case and experts involved in the criminal proceedings as witnesses in the evidentiary proceedings, scheduled for the beginning of September. Péter Bárándy also proposed to hold an on-site inspection so that the victim could show in person on the spot which were the remote places where the charges were committed.
Witness No. 2, the victim’s legal representative, also initiated a hearing as an witness for an institutional worker who will be able to talk about “the pastor’s relationship with female employees”.
(Cover image: László Donáth’s criminal case on June 4, 2021. Photo: Tamás Kaszás / Index)
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