A 61-year-old man has been sentenced to four months of house arrest and one year of probation for waving at children at a Burnaby elementary school while repeatedly touching his exposed penis.
Karoly Molnar pleaded guilty in Vancouver provincial court Thursday (Aug. 24) to one count of committing an indecent act.
The New Westminster resident had also originally been charged with exposing his genitals to someone under the age of 16, but that charge was stayed after the hearing.
The charges relate to an incident at Maywood Community School on the morning of Nov. 10, 2022, according to agreed facts presented in court after Molnar's guilty plea.
Police were called to the Metrotown school after an incident by the school fence just before 11 a.m.
During recess, three students between the ages of eight and nine, noticed a "suspicious man" pacing outside the fence.
He then pulled his penis out of his pants and waved at the children while "tugging and jerking" it, Crown prosecutor Heather Burley told the court.
The man fled when school staff came to intervene, but the entire incident was captured on the school's security cameras from multiple angles, according to Burley.
None of the children involved submitted victim impacts statements, but Burley said "some level of upset" could be presumed given their age and the circumstances.
Molnar has a record that includes three previous indecent acts and one sexual assault, but the most recent of those convictions was in 1992.
Burley said Molnar's actions at Maywood after a decades-long gap in his offending were "perplexing and concerning."
"Even Mr. Molnar doesn't understand why he acted in this this manner," said his lawyer Robert Dick.
"This is sad."
Dick said Molnar, who is married and has adult children, is embarrassed and "deeply remorseful."
He noted Molnar's early guilty plea and said there would have been "serious issues" around proving Molnar was the culprit if the case had gone to trial because he had been wearing a medical mask during the incident.
Dick said Molnar, who works as a warehouse manager, needs counselling and is looking forward to it.
When B.C. provincial court Judge Kathryn Denhoff asked whether Molnar has pursued counselling since the incident, however, Dick said no.
"I would have expected that," Denhoff said.
In a joint sentencing submission, Burley and Dick called for a four-month conditional sentence with house arrest and one year of probation.
Denhoff agreed to the submission.
As aggravating factors she noted the incident had happened at a school and Molnar had actively tried to get the young children's attention.
She also noted his criminal record.
As mitigating factors, Denhoff pointed to Molnar's guilty plea and his remorse.
Under the terms of his sentence, Molnar will spend four months under house arrest and will only be allowed to leave his home for work and a few other specific exceptions.
During his conditional sentence and probation, he is banned from contacting the three victims and from going within a one-block radius of Maywood Community School.
He is also banned from places where children under the age of 16 can reasonably be expected to be present and must complete counselling and assessments as directed.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]
