Varnus Xavér's three victims were served

However, the articles about the defacement were never published, even though the youngest child was 14 years old. Written by Angéla Füssy.

The victims told everything about what happened to them, two of them how their whole lives were ruined by the organist, with whom they were in contact as an idol, a role model, and who then corrupted them, used them as sexual toys and tools. The youngest of them was barely 14 years old. He claimed to be a journalist for HVG, not now, 7 years ago, but the articles he wrote could never be published.

The HVG could have stopped the sexual exploitation of juvenile boys 7 years ago, but everything was kept quiet, even though they even made a statement to Varnus, who responded by saying that since the boys were over the age of consent, what happened is a quasi-private matter, because it is not a crime, it is not pedophilia . Magyar Jelen has acquired not only articles written seven years ago, based on the statements of the victims, but then not published, but also a letter written by one of the victims to the editor-in-chief, in which he calls what was done to them, the victims, unfathomable, despite the fact that their statements had been refined to infinity and the speakers would have already accepted their names.

History: 2017, metoo cases, covered by the cellist

Although there have been stories and rumors about Varnus Xavér's other side for a long time, in 2017 cellist Tamás Mérei, former director of the Savaria Symphony Orchestra in Szombathely, spoke anonymously for the first time on Hit Rádio. She talked about how, at the age of 15, Varnus made her a sexual offer, which she refused, and then she unwittingly witnessed the act of the organist and another man. Mérei believed that there could be other victims of the organist. Although he did not name Xavier Varnus, he retaliated and called his accuser by name, claiming that he was lying. Mérei and Varnus fought a declaration duel for days, the details of which we will not recall now. If you didn't read it at the time, you can replace it, everything can be found on the Internet.

Two important things happened after that. Tamás Mérei suffered a stroke and died three years later, at the age of 47. According to his close friends, the Xavér scandal contributed greatly to this. However, the events also opened a gate that could no longer be closed, even though, as you will see, they could have done everything to do so.

The avalanche starts, but the paper that receives the story is silenced

Several victims were encouraged by the debate and approached Tamás Mérei and the host of Hit Radio. In the end, three men who came into contact with the organist when they were young came forward. What happened next marked their entire lives. Why and how hvg.hu became the medium of choice is not entirely clear, but perhaps that is not the point. The men who had families by then revealed their hidden wounds to the newspaper's journalists, practically pointlessly. They were denied publicity. The articles were never published.

Although it will turn out that during the negotiation they would have given up their incognito and entered the case under their names, just to put an end to Varnus' predation, this was not enough either. The victims, having lost faith, let go of the fight and buried what they had experienced, with the knowledge that they did not receive help - let alone to restore the truth, nor to tell the stories from their point of view alongside the organist's, so that the reader can decide who to believe finally.

Perhaps their drama would never be made public if Róbert Ábrahám had not stepped in to expose the pedophile network in Hungary, if we had not started a joint battle, and after the name of an organist had come up in connection with the abuses surrounding children's homes, the never-published articles and letters would not have landed in our mailbox. tragedies of fate.

Three witnesses, two corrupted victims, 14 and 16 years old

Three victims, three life stories - this is what hvg.hu would have shown 7 years ago, if something or someone had not intervened.

All three men clearly spoke of an abusive relationship and abuse of power, which is punishable even if the victim is over 14 years old.

All three met their idol, role model, and master through music. According to their claim, Varnus Xavér took advantage of this fandom, who, on the other hand, saw sexual toys in boys 16-20 years younger than him.

One of the boys was fifteen years old when Varnus called him after a concert. He received an open sexual offer and, like Mérei, he had the presence of mind to say no. He refused the approach. An unpleasant memory to this day, he cut off all contact with her

says the never-published article.

The story of Miklós, now in his thirties (that's what the article would have called the victim who initially requested anonymity - ed.) is much more dramatic , said the hvg journalist.

I was fourteen years old when I met Xavier through my organist brother. At that time, there was a team of enthusiastic young people who helped the musician, their tasks included leafleting, packaging before concerts and selling CDs. Before a concert in the country, we "ganged up" and that's when Xavér made a blatant sexual proposition

- recalled the events of the victim, the younger brother of a young budding artist who was preparing to become an organist at the time.

The boy had not had any sexual relations until then. According to her, Xavér was furious that he could take her virginity. He bragged about a former "trophy" who eventually became homosexual because of him.

This was not achieved with the then 14-year-old boy. Today he is a happy family man, but the wounds he received then never healed.

I'm angry with Varnus because he apparently made a sport out of hooking inexperienced young people who are still unsure of their sexuality

- he said in an unpublished interview.

Varnus hid in Canada with the 16-year-old boy

The teenager's older brother, who is two years older, fell under the spell of the organist for a longer period of time. He took the then 16-year-old organist to Canada, where they lived together for two years. Based on the victim's statement, he is by no means in an equal, happy relationship.

Of course, there were others during the two years. He witnessed how the organist conquered his young and inexperienced partners.

I learned to play the organ, and Xavér Varnus came to the final exams as an alumnus of the institution. After the exam, I received a business card from him and he asked me to call him. My family and I thought he was only interested in me because of my talent, so I called him. We met several times until some kind of friendship developed between us. At that time, he had not yet made a sexual offer, but he won the trust of the whole family. He also completely swept my mother off her feet, told lots of stories, often had lunch with us - said the man, to whom Varnus finally made a sexual proposal during a joint trip to the countryside

- says the ominous "left in account" article.

The man, who was already married at the time of the declaration, said that even though he was not homosexual, he was extremely impressed that a real star, a role model, was looking for his company.

I was like, if this - a homosexual relationship - is the price of staying with him, then so be it

he said.

He also talked about how he was a late-maturing type, his boyish appearance made him look no more than 14.

Varnus was afraid that there might be trouble from our relationship, so he asked me to go out with him to Canada, where we can hide better and fewer people know him. I fell in love with a girl here, and then I realized what the organist had done to me. I've been married for several years now and I'm very angry, I feel that Varnus took away the essence of my adolescence by taking over me at such an inexperienced and impressionable age when I didn't have the opportunity to develop my own gender identity

he explained.

According to Varnus, condemning sexual relations with minors is a moral tradition based on 19th century morals and anti-gay

If all that wasn't enough, after two years the world star organist threw it away like a used handkerchief. The boy did not have enough money to travel home to Hungary - but this is clear from the letter asking for his number, which the victim wrote to the editor-in-chief of hvg.hu after several weeks of persuasion to express his disappointment that they had been let down.

The tug-of-war went on for a long time, what about the story. Of course, Varnus was also asked to speak. We also obtained the draft article in which the organist attacks in a stomach-turning manner, largely without denying sexual relations with minors.

Being a role model is not a power superiority…

The first thing he denied was abuse of power. Obviously, knowing that the age of consent is here or there is punishable. The power dependence relationship clearly exists in the case of a family member, parent, teacher or educator, or coach. According to Varnus' point of view, a role model, an idol, after whom the fan makes every sacrifice, does not belong to this circle.

What kind of power did I have? I was not a theater director, an influential minister, their superior or their teacher. Until the age of 45, I was a relatively handsome, independent, talented and well-known artist who influenced those around me, who had many fans and fanatics, and it was not necessary to persuade them to fall in love, but the stars of rock bands could tell stories about this. I admit that a person can be passionate about an idol - even a pop idol - to such an extent that they do not say no to an offer from him

– the organist defended himself with these sentences when contacted by hvg.hu seven years ago.

He also claimed that he mostly had relationships with 16-17-year-old boys and girls, with younger ones not because it was illegal, but because, according to him, he had different tastes.

When confronted with the stories of the victims, who were 14, 15 and 16 at the time, he argued the age of consent.

Science considers a person to be capable of sexual activity at the age of 14, and Hungarian law thus defines the so-called age of consent at the age of 14, above which it is not punishable to have sexual relations with an adult, provided that the person is not their teacher or educator. All of the ones you mentioned, even those with whom I certainly had no relationship, were above this age, so I don't understand why the moral tradition based on the law, based on 19th century morals, wants to be stricter. In the whole thing, I feel the hidden anti-gay behavior of a part of Hungarian society, and since nowadays it is no longer politically correct to scold sexual differences, they have found a niche where they can still insult

he said.

He also argued that if the accusation of abuse does not stop legally, then the "uncertain gender identity" card will always come up.

I wasn't violent with anyone and I didn't do anything illegal. Would the 29-year-old Béla Bartók, who married his 16-year-old student, Márta Ziegler, be guilty, or the 27-year-old Paul Verlaine, who fell in love with the 17-year-old Arthur Rimbaud, and their relationship lasted for many years?

he argued.

Finally, he admitted that he had indeed lived with the older member of the brotherhood, who was 16 at the time, in Canada, but denied that he had had affairs with younger, 14-year-old boys. He eventually threatened the victims.

How can one refer to seduction in cases where those who later claim to be victims have been in a lover or partner relationship for a longer or shorter period of time with someone who is later called an occasional bully? Do they know that this makes them defamatory, with serious legal consequences?

Varnus said in his statement.

In the end, the threat only affected the management of hvg.hu, it did not deter the victims. After a while, when the glass was completely full, the older member of the brother and sister wrote a harsh letter to the editor-in-chief of the paper. This also came into our possession, and although it is a private letter, in our opinion, the public interest overrides the law protecting the confidentiality of letters, so we quote from it as well.

"This man is an ANIMAL - he must be stopped"

I have just received - now for the second time - the news that the article about Xavér's disgraceful behavior has not been published in HVG for almost a week. We have already rewritten the article in such a honey-glazed, velvety delicacy that it has already distorted its basic essence. But that's okay, I even agreed to this version; I also agreed to take my name, just so that people would finally recognize me

the victim began his letter.

He then asked the question that when they have already surrounded themselves from all aspects, taken out all the more delicate and personal parts, what could still be the problem:

Defining the moral standard? Couldn't the judgment of Xavér's clearly sick behavior be left to the dear reader? Isn't that why your paper turned to me, to support our assumptions with facts? (…) Don't you think (that is, don't you see?) based on the increasingly different information that is emerging, that this is an ongoing trend on Xavér's part, as he acquires young victims for himself, and that we are not the first and last cases where and leave behind more victims who have no power to say no, and are left to fend for themselves with all this burden that Xavier puts on them?

He recalls again that his younger brother was corrupted by Varnus Xavér when he was 14 and when he was 16. He fled to a foreign country from his already suspicious family. There, he also earned the money for their bills with the teenage boy, begging by playing music in unheated basements, and then he ended up on the streets in Canada as a quasi-homeless person.

After I finally refused, he left me alone, took my money and valuables with him to Hungary, saying that "this is the minimum", after I dared to leave HIM there

the man wrote in his letter.

According to what happened, his life was set back 10 years. At the age of 26, he managed to graduate, and by the age of 30 he had become a professional.

I haven't even dreamed of going to university since then, because I was too old by the time I made up for the studies I missed because of it, and I always had to earn money

he said.

And the most dramatic part came only after that.

He confirmed that his goal is not revenge, but to draw attention to pay more attention to our children. Because what happened to him could have happened because he wasn't taken care of enough.

One word like a hundred: this man is an ANIMAL - he must be stopped, what he is still doing today! (…) Countless – so far anonymous – sufferers await this article with trepidation, who are just waiting for a push so that a prominent paper like yours will take part and cast their vote.

Not to mention Tamas Mérei, who is now being left alone in this case, and in the meantime, due to lack of information and ignorance, his students are abandoning him one by one. Isn't that what newspapers are for?

he asks the question.

"If you don't have a teenage son..."

Finally, he attached the joint picture of the boy with the famous organist, with whom the great master had been cooking and baking for seven years at the time... And he hinted that in just a few months, that boy would also turn 14 and could become a victim.

I looked almost exactly like that when he surrounded me - at the age of 16

he noted.

He then asked the editor-in-chief to print out the picture for himself, display it on his desk for a few days, and next time when Xavér they morph into the moral foundations of your behavior, take a look at this - with a clear conscience!

***

We contacted the editor-in-chief of hvg by e-mail to ask why the articles were not published at the time and thus failed the victims who were forced to speak, as well as whether they would feel responsible if it turned out that Varnus Xavér had committed similar acts in the past seven years sexual abuse. Didn't silence the honest testimony of the victims against a celebrity accused of gross sexual abuse cause remorse?

We also contacted Xavér Varnus, who we asked if he admits having sexual relations with 14-16-year-old boys. Since then, have you continued to have such sexual relationships, and do you feel responsible for the distortions in the personality of your former juvenile partners?

We leave it up to the authorities, to whom we will hand over the document in our possession in the form of a report, as to whether there could have been an abuse of power and a vulnerable position, which is punishable by law, in the light of what happened above.

Featured image: Varnus Xavér on May 6, 2013. Photo: Zsolt Czeglédi / MTI