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Bogdan MicLovici, 59, was the manager of sister pubs The Hart of Harwell near Didcot and The Royal Sun in Kidlington when the offences took place – a number of years ago.
He is accused of touching the buttocks, hips, legs and backs of six different women, some of whom were underage at the time, on a ‘persistent’ basis while in his role as manager.
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The former pub manager was subsequently charged with 10 counts of sexual assault and was on trial at Oxford Crown Court after denying the offences.
He told police that if there had been any touching, it was ‘inadvertent and unavoidable’ and denied having any sexual intentions.
However, a jury rejected his defence and found him guilty on Wednesday (April 2) of all 10 counts.
During the trial, it was heard that MicLovici, who lived above the pub in High Street at the time of offences, had touched the women over their clothes ‘persistently’.
He also touched the women inside his car after offering them lifts home from the pub, which the Crown Prosecution Service dubbed as ‘entirely unwanted’.
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There are six complainants in total – all of whom cannot be named for legal reasons.
One complainant, who gave evidence during the trial, told the court she felt ‘uncomfortable’ around MicLovici.
She told the jury she was 18 years old when she met the defendant at the Harwell pub.
“I remember feeling on edge in a way that didn’t feel normal. He was very nice towards me, very, very nice,” she said.
“I don’t know if nice is the right word but he seemed to very nice.”
She added that after meeting MicLovici, he made comments about her ‘sexual activity’.
“He would tell me things about his sexual activity,” she said. “I don’t remember specifics.”
One of the women first reported MicLovici in March 2022 before the others made subsequent reports.
Upon arrest, MicLovici told police he believed there may have been a ‘conspiracy against him’ and denied all the offences.
He was interviewed twice in May and August 2022 before being charged.
During his defence case in the trial, he told the jury there had never been any sexual touching and that any contact had been accidental.
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He said someone had ‘put’ the idea into the complainant’s heads.
“They never though of anything at the time, someone had put that in their heads and they [went] with it,” he said.
He will now be sentenced at a later date.
