BRADENTON, FL — A Bradenton man who fled to Hungary after investigators obtained an arrest warrant in a child exploitation case has been returned to Florida, authorities said.
Csaba Nemeth, 48, a dual U.S.-Hungarian citizen, was escorted back to Florida by FBI task force agents on Friday, the Bradenton Police Department said in a news release.
He's being held in the Manatee County Jail on a $650,000 bond.
His extradition marks the first time in more than 25 years that a Hungarian citizen has been extradited to the United States, police said.
The investigation began in August 2022, when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received a CyberTipline report containing a file believed to be child sexual abuse material.
The report was forwarded to the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and included an IP address associated with Nemeth's home, investigators said.
Detectives searched Nemeth's home in September 2022 and seized multiple electronic devices.
A forensic examination found more than 10 videos containing child sexual abuse material that investigators determined belonged to Nemeth, police said.
An arrest warrant was issued in November 2022, but detectives were unable to locate Nemeth. The FBI Sarasota Suncoast Child Exploitation Task Force later tracked him to Hungary, where a federal warrant was obtained charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Nemeth is charged with possession of child sexual abuse material. Because he possessed more than 10 files, the charge was enhanced to a second-degree felony, police said.
Bradenton police credited 15 local, federal and international law enforcement agencies with assisting in locating and returning Nemeth to Florida.
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