A pervert followed a woman as she walked home at night then sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in the street.
David Demeter ran away scared when the teenager fought back after he groped her. He later laughed when quizzed about the incident by police.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Friday, that his first victim was walking from the city centre along Smithdown Road shortly after 9.15pm on July 14 this year when she saw the 31-year-old heading in the opposite direction "smiling smugly at her, looking her up and down". Carmel Wilde, prosecuting, said Demeter then began tailing her.
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The woman crossed the road "several times" in a bid to shake him off, but he did the same. At one stage, the dad-of-five stayed on the side of street opposite her but "kept pace with her" and "tried to look less conspicuous by picking litter up off the floor".
She messaged her housemates to wait for her at the end of their road, then "bravely confronted" him, saying: "What are you doing? Please can you leave me alone."
Demeter, of no fixed address, replied "I just want to look at you". When the complainant's friends met her, they ran home - but he lurked outside for 10 minutes.
Around 9.30pm, the "predator" began following two 16-year-old girls walking along Egerton Road in Wavertree. Demeter twice put his arm around one, both times sliding his hand down from her shoulder across her chest and groping her breast.
The youngster pushed him off and he fell over. But they continued to be followed after turning onto Lawrence Road.
Demeter, who moved to the UK from his native Slovakia six years ago, then kicked and punched the teen. When her friend intervened, he also punched her on the shoulder and kicked at her leg.
The girl he had sexually assaulted pushed him against a lamppost, picked up a glass bottle and threw it at him. Demeter ran away, but the girls had managed to take pictures of him during the incident and officers located and arrested him nearby.
Under interview, he said: "I will answer you questions because I have the truth. I really don't know what it's going to be, my truth or their truth."
When shown CCTV footage, Demeter - who was assisted by an interpreter in the dock - "laughed and smiled". He added: "You can't see me on there anyway."
The incidents came only weeks after he attempted to break into a woman's flat on Botanic Road in Edge Hill. She had previously been burgled in 2016, and was left so shaken up that to this day she sleeps on the sofa in her living room instead of the bedroom.
At around 4am on June 16, the woman was woken by an alarm. It was then discovered that Demeter had attempted to prise open her bedroom window with a piece of wood.
He was arrested following this incident, but was subsequently released on bail. Peter White, defending, said that his client was "homeless at the time and was looking for food and shelter" but "maintains his denials" of the offences committed on July 14 - adding: "He accepts that around the time of the commission of these offences, alcohol was a significant issue.
"It is bizarre and quite worrying behaviour, but it might be explained if in drink. Hopefully he can use the time in custody as best as he possibly can."
Demeter - who has no previous convictions - admitted attempted burglary and was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault, three charges of assault and a public order offence. He was jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Sentencing, Recorder Mark Ford KC said: "I am satisfied that you are a predatory individual without any sense of remorse. I also conclude that there is a complete absence of empathy for your victims.
"Your sole purpose in committing offences against those two young girls was to satisfy you own sexual gratification. Your conduct did cause enormous distress to your victims.
"Your victims suffered significant psychological harm as a result of your conduct towards them. They fear going outside and are living their lives in a state of anxiety."
Demeter was also handed indefinite restraining orders and told to sign the sex offenders' register for life. He will be required to pay a victim surcharge.
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