A Hungarian suspect has been identified as part of a major international investigation into online criminal networks accused of drugging and raping women, according to the Hungarian National Police Headquarters (ORFK).
The investigation is being carried out under Project Medusa, a Europol-coordinated operation that has already identified more than 150 suspected offenders and victims across multiple countries. Investigators believe the true scale of the crimes could be significantly larger.
Hungarian police launch criminal investigation
In a statement sent to Telex, the ORFK confirmed that the Cybercrime Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (KR NNI) is actively participating in the international operation. During the investigation, officers successfully identified a Hungarian user, leading authorities to open a criminal investigation on suspicion of sexual assault.
Police subsequently searched the suspect’s residence, where they seized electronic devices and digital storage media. According to the ORFK, forensic analysis of the confiscated data is currently ongoing. No further details about the suspect have been released, and the investigation is active.
Previous cooperation led to another Hungarian suspect
The ORFK also noted that the current operation builds on previous international cooperation. Investigators from the KR NNI Cybercrime Division had earlier worked on cases linked to the Motherless website, an adult content platform that has previously been associated with criminal investigations in several countries. That earlier cooperation also resulted in the identification and questioning of a Hungarian suspect.
Victims often unaware they had been assaulted
According to Europol, Project Medusa uncovered highly organised criminal groups whose members allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted women, while using online chat groups to facilitate, coordinate and encourage the crimes. The platforms reportedly served as spaces where predominantly male offenders exchanged information, planned attacks and shared photographs and videos of the assaults.
Investigators say many victims had no idea they had been abused until police contacted them during the investigation. Authorities also found that, in most cases, the alleged perpetrators were people the victims knew and trusted. In some incidents, several connected offenders were involved.
Investigation followed the Pelicot case in France
The international operation was launched in the wake of one of France’s most shocking sexual violence cases. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a French court found that he had repeatedly drugged his wife over a period of around a decade and invited dozens of men he recruited online to rape her while she was unconscious.
His former wife, Gisèle Pelicot, chose to waive her anonymity during the trial, becoming an international symbol in the fight against violence against women. Since the case came to light, similar investigations have been launched in several European countries, including Germany and Poland, uncovering comparable patterns of abuse.
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