The Fidesz “Christian family values” KDNP coalition has been involved in its fair share of sex scandals; Szájer (gay orgy), Bese (gay porn), Borkai (yacht orgy) but sex scandals involving consenting adults is one thing — sex crimes involving children, especially those in state care, is quite another.
Over the years, a number of Fidesz politicians, local officials and close associates have been linked to cases of pedophilia and child abuse. Some have gotten off with small fines and suspended sentences, others remain in prison to this day. Incredibly, some have even returned to the Fidesz fold.
And while a political party can’t be held wholesale responsible for each individual’s private actions, there is an oddly long list of sex crimes involving minors in the Fidesz orbit and, in some cases, allegations of sluggish justice… possibly because of the well-connected nature of some of the perpetrators.
It’s gotten so bad that social media is awash with people referring to Fidesz as “Pedofidesz.”
What on earth is going on?
Just last week, yet another scandal blew up in parliament with the Fidesz-KDNP coalition putting itself at the heart of new allegations while actually trying to distance itself from them. More on this later.
So how many pedophile scandals can Fidesz survive? It’s a wonder it’s survived this many at all…
Here are just some of the most high-profile cases with a Fidesz angle:
The director of the Szőlő Street Juvenile Correctional Institution ran a prostitution ring (allegedly)
This whole case is murky — and investigations are ongoing — but what is known is that the director of the Szőlő Street Juvenile Correctional Institution, Péter Pál Juhász, was arrested in May (alongside his romantic partner who also grew up in a children’s home) on charges of human trafficking, forced labour and abuse of authority.
It’s alleged they forced two young women from vulnerable backgrounds (raised in institutional care) into prostitution while under the guise that they were employed at the Szőlő Street facility — a state facility for male juvenile offenders under a correctional sentence.
On Juhász’s arrest, 300,000 euros in cash was discovered, which, as some commentators say, may imply he was running an entire prostitution ring — well beyond just the two women.
There are additional reports that others in state care (either at Szőlő Street or elsewhere) may have been pimped out to powerful clients, and allegations that Juhász himself may have had inappropriate relationships with minors over the course of his career, which spanned multiple institutions. Multiple complaints were made against him over the course of 10 years, and yet investigations seemed to move verrryyy slowly and he continued to hold powerful positions despite the potential risk this could mean for vulnerable people.
So, what’s the political angle?
In an interview, the former director of the Budapest Regional Child Protection Service, Gábor Kuslits, said that within the sector there were rumours about who might be protecting Juhász saying it was “two high-ranking politicians” and that “one was taken boys, the other girls.” He added that according to rumours orgies took place in Juhász’s office and at a rented apartment near Szőlő Street.
Since then, innuendo and speculation has spread like wildfire online with some even baselessly naming Fidesz-KDNP politicians Antal Rogán and Zsolt Semjén as the two high-profile politicians.
In addition, despite the multiple complaints over 10 years, just last year Juhász was given a public safety award by the Fidesz mayor of Dunakeszi. Juhász was also lauded for his expertise in state-run media, and allegedly has business links to people within the “NER” — Orbán’s tangled web of state-business connections; a real cesspit of political power and business interests.
While there is no evidence yet of Fidesz-KDNP politicians being involved in abuse, given that Szőlő Street is a state run facility, hairy questions remain pertaining to the ability of the government to effectively run such facilities:
– Why did Fidesz (specifically Zoltán Dudás) appoint Juhász as director of the Szőlő Street Institution when he had to leave two previous jobs due to allegations of sexual abuse of minors?
– How did Juhász pass mandatory background checks with ease given 10-years of complaints against him? Are these checks worthless?
– Why would it take 10 years to investigate allegations when vulnerable people continued to be at his mercy?
– Why are there so many reports of workers in the sector feeling scared to report wrongdoing?
– What is the process for effectively handling complaints? Why did so many complaints go nowhere?
– Is there any proper oversight happening at all?
Ultimately, the Fidesz-KDNP government is responsible for protecting the vulnerable people in its care, and some pretty sick behaviour seemingly took place right under their noses.
The mysterious "Uncle Zsolt" figure
This is a strange little story that started in the above video (at the 19-minute mark) and then ballooned into a huge story that put Fidesz-KDNP into the same sentence as child abuse yet again.
In the video, an anonymous figure, claiming to be a pastor, tells the following story: 10 years ago he went to the city of Ózd for an event when two young people pulled him aside and asked for his advice. They told him a high-ranking politician in a blacked-out car had been going to the local children’s care home at night and boys were either delivered to the car or the mystery man would go in to have sexual relations with the 10- to 12-year-old boys. The children couldn’t see the man’s face in the dark but one day they were watching TV and recognised the man’s voice and said, “that’s uncle Zsolt!”
There is no evidence that this mysterious “Zsolt” is indeed in Fidesz-KDNP or that this story happened at all, but when an opposition politician stood up in parliament last week and asked “Who is this Uncle Zsolt?” the fact that the leader of KDNP and Deputy Prime Minister, Zsolt Semjén, stood up and gave an emphatic denial (despite not being accused) inadvertently linked Fidesz-KDNP to the scandal.
What could have died an unsubstantiated claim on a YouTube channel was elevated to national news and resulted in many feeling convinced that Semjén was indeed the Zsolt.
For what it’s worth, this is an interesting body language analysis of Semjén’s emphatic denial and shows the Speaker of the House, László Kövér, displeased that Semjén had requested to speak given it would inadvertently tie Fidesz-KDNP to the scandal.
János Vásárhelyi and Béla Kunstár abuse multiple kids at the Bicske orphanage
Two men — well connected in Fidesz circles — were found guilty of child sexual abuse at the state-run Bicske orphanage where they worked. János Vásárhelyi was the director while Béla Kunstár was on staff.
Vásárhelyi sexually abused 10 boys and is serving 8 years while Kunstár sexually abused 4 boys and got a 1.5-year suspended sentence.
The most horrifying aspect of this case is that it happened at an orphanage — these kids didn’t have a soul in the world to turn to and their tormentors were the ones meant to be taking care of them. The abuse only came to light when one of the boys — so utterly despondent — jumped in front of a train.
The Fidesz connection? Obviously, it’s yet another example of the Fidesz government failing in its duty of care, but that’s just the start of it.
It’s reported that Vásárhelyi was well-connected within Fidesz. For example, Vásárhelyi’s lawyer in the case was reportedly Dr. István Szmulai, who is Viktor Orbán’s family lawyer according to investigative reporters. Vásárhelyi also worked with Győző Orbán Jr. (the brother of Viktor Orbán) and even received some kind of commendation at the reported recommendation of Viktor Orbán himself. You can see him in the photo above receiving an award from high-profile Fidesz politician Alexandra Szentkirályi.
In addition, it’s been reported that Kunstár, who strangely never served a day in prison for his crimes, was back in the Fidesz fold shortly after the guilty verdict. He was reportedly giving music lessons at a children’s summer camp funded by the Prime Minister’s Office, despite being banned from working with kids.
You would think self-preservation would kick in and Fidesz would cut all ties with the convicted pedophile, but I guess not because there’s further reporting that Kunstár’s company made millions of euros partly from state contracts even after conviction. He reportedly gets around in a Lamborghini…
The clemency scandal that finished a Fidesz President and Justice Minister
This particular pedophile scandal is the only one where Fidesz seems to have taken a level of accountability, although not nearly enough.
The President Katalin Novák and Justice Minister Judit Varga resigned in disgrace when it was revealed they gave clemency to Endre Kónya, the deputy director of the Bicske orphanage. He had been found guilty of pressuring a minor to withdraw testimony of sexual abuse against János Vásárhelyi — the sexual predator terrorising the boys at the Bicske orphanage.
Essentially, Kónya tried to protect his pedophile boss while re-victimising and abandoning the boys under his care. He received 3 years and 4 months in prison.
Why on God’s green earth would the President give him — of all people — clemency? It remains unclear because she won’t tell us. Here she is avoiding answering here, here, here and here.
In the absence of truth, the mind runs wild. Some believe it happened because Kónya was close to someone in the Fidesz world. One former Fidesz minister has taken some responsibility with Zoltán Balog admitting to campaigning for the pardon.
Interestingly, the long tail of this scandal could be the beginning of the end of the Fidesz government itself because it was the genesis of Péter Magyar’s unlikely rise to leading opposition figure.
A convicted pedophile is invited to Fidesz's "Fight Club" launch event
In a strange own goal, the convicted pedophile S. Tamás György (pictured above) was invited to Fidesz’s invite-only Harcosok Klubja (“Fight Club”) launch event earlier this year.
He was imprisoned for sexually abusing a child under 12 but that didn’t stop Fidesz mayor of Ivád, Zsolt Ivády, from welcoming him back with open arms. Clemency towards pedophiles seems to be a Fidesz thing.
Fidesz ambassador Gábor Kaleta amasses 19,000 child porn images
In 2019, US authorities found Gábor Kaleta, the Fidesz-appointed ambassador to Peru, in possession of 19,000 child porn images/videos.
The Hungarian government snuck him home and he was given a suspended prison sentence (i.e. no time served) and a meagre fine of a few thousand euros.
To put this slap on the wrist into context, in the US he would have gotten something like 10+ years in prison for the same offence.
It scarcely needs to be said that this is not a victimless crime. Without people like Kaleta viewing such content the children harmed in these types of images may not have been abused.
A host of other cases...
Over the past decade many more cases have been revealed with a Fidesz angle of some sort, including:
- In 2024, Catholic priest, András Pajor, (who openly supported Fidesz and was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit, reportedly at the suggestion of Orbán himself) was accused of allegedly asking altar boys to undress during supposed “tick inspections” and touching their private parts. He has been suspended from all priestly duties and police investigations are ongoing.
- In 2020, “Sz. Balázs”, a parliamentary aide to Fidesz MP Róbert Balázs Simon, was caught hiding a camera behind a baseball cap and filming young girls in a pool changing room. He was also found in possession of other child abuse images. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison.
- In 2014, a scout leader in Veszprém referred to as “V. Gábor” was accused of coaxing little boys into sexual games, masturbation and watching porn together. He had been a member of a local Fidesz group and been a Fidesz and KDNP delegate to the municipality’s financial and budget committee.
- In 2021, Tivadar Fohsz, the former Fidesz deputy mayor of Budapest’s XVII district, was charged with surreptitiously recording his foster daughter via a series of hidden cameras in their home and storing pornographic recordings of a minor. He denies wrongdoing; the case is ongoing.
- According to media reports in 2022, a Fidesz municipal representative, László Tímár, had a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old female student when the then 56-year-old was a teacher at the Árpád Fejedelem Elementary School.
- In 2023, János Nagy, the former head of the National Land Office, was arrested for the possession of hundreds of child porn images — including those of children under the age of 12. Incredibly, according to opposition politician Ákos Hadházy, Nagy went to school with Orbán. The trial continues.
- Catholic priest, Róbert Hatházi, is accused of child abuse with investigations ongoing. He is believed to be well-connected in Fidesz circles receiving an award from the Fidesz mayor of Kecskemét and his association allegedly receiving 75 million forints from the Hungarian state to organise sex education awareness training.
- Former priest Gábor Rónaszéki has been charged with sexually abusing minors including two under the age of 14. Some media reports suggest he lured some of the poorest victims with food (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). He has ties to Fidesz. For example, his sister-in-law, Mónika Rónaszékiné Keresztes, is a former Fidesz politician. And he reportedly hosted “relaxation sessions” at a farm near Jánoshalma, where he allegedly abused minors. The farm was also allegedly frequented by political figures including Fidesz MP Gábor Bányai and Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén. No allegations of wrongdoing have been made against the three Fidesz politicians mentioned here.
A stain on Hungary
Fidesz has clearly failed to create a safe environment for children in state care, and institutions more broadly. It seems like those with Fidesz connections feel they are above the law and will be protected.
Even in the current Szőlő Street crisis, Fidesz-KDNP seems more focussed on PR and self-preservation than the welfare of the vulnerable people in state care. In Semjén’s speech, for example, he didn’t utter a word about the victims. Later he said he can’t be the perpetrator because he had never been in institutions for kids — a shocking admission about how little interest the leader of the so-called Christian Democrats has.
It got worse, Fidesz promised “megtorlás,” which means retaliation for the opposition’s actions — and shortly thereafter the police went to Juhi’s house presumable to search for evidence of who the “Uncle Zsolt” whistleblower is.
Furthermore, it’s the opposition DK party who has offered up the equivalent of 12,000 euros for information on who the “high-ranking politicians” are — something surely the police should have been doing.
The great shame of Hungarian politics is that despite all these child abuse scandals on Orbán’s watch, he still hasn’t resigned in disgrace and his party still has significant public support.
So, how many more such scandals can Fidesz-KDNP survive? Well, how many more such scandals will the Hungarian people tolerate?
My hope is that the clock is ticking and Fidesz will be ousted from government at the April 2026 elections.
The new opposition Tisza Party must win because Hungarian kids deserve a real government that doesn’t just claim to be for “traditional family values” but actually puts an end to this depravity.
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