The Democratic Coalition has informed Pope Francis in a letter that Katalin Novák, the President of Hungary, granted a presidential pardon referencing the Pope's upcoming visit in April 2023. This pardon was extended to the former deputy director of the Kossuth Zsuzsa Children's Home in Bicske, who had been convicted of coercing others in connection to a pedophile case.
The former deputy director, Endre K., was sentenced to three years and four months in prison due to his role in the coercion within the inquiry against János V., the director, who was charged with pedophilia. János V. was found guilty of molesting at least ten inhabitants of the children's home between 2004 and 2016 and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
According to reports, Endre K. attempted to cover up the case surrounding János V. by planning to make one of the victims sign a false statement claiming the entire accusation was fabricated, and by offering another victim five thousand Hungarian forints to retract their testimony. Endre K. was aware of the molestation that János V. had committed against several children, and he drafted a false declaration in one victim's name, which he intended to have signed in the presence of the pedophilic János V. in his office. The text of the fabricated statement read: "I made up that we masturbated together, and that he did this with other children as well. The truth is, he never pulled down my trousers, never touched me, and never did that."
In the letter to
Pope Francis, the Democratic Coalition expressed their hope that through informing him of the presidential decision, they may find a way to convey their shared conviction that invoking any of Jesus Christ's servants should not open a pathway for collaboration with sin and sinners stated Olga Kálmán, the spokesperson for the opposition party's parliamentary group.