A 22-year-old Hungarian man appeared before the Court in Horsens on Thursday, charged with long-term deprivation of liberty and grooming of a 15-year-old Danish girl. He denies the charges.
DR reports that the man was produced in a preliminary court hearing, a grundlovsforhør, at the Court in Horsens on Thursday, August 20, 2026. He is charged with having taken the 15-year-old girl out of Denmark and to Hungary on August 4, thereby depriving her of her liberty for a prolonged period.
According to the charge, he built a relationship with the girl between January 25 and August 4, 2026, exploiting his age. The stated purpose was to subject her to a sexual offence, and police believe the contact took place through social media and text messages.
The prosecution asked the court to impose a reporting ban on the indictment, but the judge declined. The 22-year-old was led into the courtroom shortly before 10 a.m. by two plainclothes officers, and he denies the charges.
The judge then closed the doors out of consideration for the investigation and for the girl. That means the public is not given insight into the police investigation so far. During the open part of the hearing, it emerged that the man had been questioned the previous evening.
Politiken reports that the girl disappeared from her home in Hedensted on August 4 and was found in Hungary two days later. The newspaper notes that he pleaded not guilty to both the deprivation of liberty charge and the grooming charge.
Arrest and extradition
In a statement published on August 11, Sydøstjyllands Politi said the girl left her home on August 4 and was located in Hungary on August 6. The force said a man had been arrested in Hungary on the basis of a Danish European Arrest Warrant, and that Danish police had requested his extradition.
Avisen Danmark reports that the 22-year-old landed at Copenhagen Airport at 12:50 on August 19 and was arrested on arrival. According to the same outlet, a Hungarian court had remanded him in custody based on a warrant citing deprivation of liberty, exploitation of children and offences linked to child abuse material.
The English-language CPH Post reported on August 19 that the man had been extradited to Denmark and would be brought before the Court in Horsens. DailyNewsHungary reported that the Budapest-Capital Regional Court placed him in provisional extradition custody after Denmark issued the warrant.
Thursday’s hearing follows directly from that extradition from Hungary one day earlier. DR reported that the court session was continuing during the hours after the doors were closed.
