Polish anticorruption agency searches Children's Ombudsman office over Białołęka intervention

Anticorruption agency search at Ombudsman office

Officers from the Central Anticorruption Bureau entered the Warsaw headquarters of the Ombudsman for Children on 6 October 2026. The officers executed operational tasks on behalf of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin, which is directing the ongoing inquiry. Jacek Dobrzyński, spokesperson for the minister coordinator of special services, confirmed the actions and clarified that the probe does not involve corruption offenses. News of the bureau's entry was first reported by Wirtualna Polska before being corroborated by official spokespersons. The operation focused on securing case files and administrative records tied to an intervention involving a Warsaw family.

Procedural activities that are now taking place in the office of the Ombudsman for Children are related to the investigation of our Regional Prosecutor's Office.

The August sidewalk encounter in Białołęka

The investigation originates from an incident that took place in August 2026 in the Białołęka district of Warsaw. Monika Horna-Cieślak, the Ombudsman for Children, was walking along a sidewalk when she saw a woman shouting at and jerking a child who had run into the street. When Horna-Cieślak approached to reprimand the woman, the mother responded with vulgar language. Horna-Cieślak then summoned the police to the scene. Police officers subsequently issued an immediate eviction order and a restraining order against the parents, resulting in their three-year-old and four-year-old children being removed from the home and placed into a care facility.

Family court evaluation and prosecutor referral

The police order and child removal were subsequently reviewed by a family court, which overturned the measure and ordered both children returned to their biological parents. The court determined that the actions undertaken during the intervention exhibited clear hallmarks of institutional violence. In its evaluation, the court noted that state and administrative machinery had been activated in a manner grossly disproportionate to the actual incident. Following the ruling, the National Prosecutor's Office received a formal criminal notice accusing Horna-Cieślak of exceeding her official authority and submitting false accusations, before forwarding the matter to regional prosecutors in Szczecin.

A notification was submitted to the National Prosecutor's Office regarding suspected abuse of power and false accusation committed by the Ombudsman for Children in connection with an intervention concerning a family from Warsaw's Białołęka.

Official defense and document handover

Horna-Cieślak defended her intervention in public remarks, asserting that she acted strictly within her statutory competences to protect child welfare. She emphasized that the Białołęka family was already known to municipal services and was subject to the Blue Card domestic violence procedure prior to the August encounter. On Tuesday afternoon, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children issued a statement confirming that staff had complied fully with procedural requests. The office verified that all relevant case documents in its possession were surrendered to the investigating authorities under applicable statutory regulations.

In connection with the case concerning the intervention in Warsaw's Białołęka, all documents held by the Office of the Ombudsman for Children have been issued to the competent authorities in accordance with applicable law.