A serial bottom slapper who sexually assaulted several women across Brighton and Hove has been spared a prison sentence by a judge today (Friday 7 December).
Constantin Barbutu, 22, of Cromwell Road, Hove, faced 21 charges when he appeared at Hove Crown Court this morning.
He admitted 11 of them. He faces no further action over the other 10 charges.
The court was told that Barbutu, a dish washer from Romania, carried out the attacks on a bike while wearing a hoodie.
He rode up behind women who were mostly walking or running and then smacked or groped them.
For three of the offences Judge David Rennie sentenced Barbutu to 12 months in prison suspended for two years.
For the remaining counts, Barbutu was given a nine-month sentence, to be served concurrently, also suspended for two years.
He was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Judge Rennie told him that he had caused fear and anguish to complete strangers as they went about their business.
But the judge was concerned that Barbutu, who was described as intellectually impaired and with very little grasp of English, would not cope in prison.
The defendant followed the proceedings with the help of an interpreter.
He appears to have started slapping women’s bottoms in Brighton and Hove just over two years ago – in September 2016.
He was arrested last year after more than two dozen women reported being slapped, squeezed or groped on the bottom.
