The at least 50,000 demonstrators were led by opposition leader Péter Magyar, whose party Tisza is leading the opinion polls ahead of this spring's parliamentary elections.
Orbán's government is criticized for not sufficiently addressing allegations of child abuse in state institutions.
Stuffed animals and torches
Many of the protesters brought toys and stuffed animals, and Magyar held a sign that read "protect the children."
"Normally a government would fall after something like this. For them, the problem is not that the abuse happened, but that it was exposed," a 16-year-old boy told AFP.
The crowd, some with torches in their hands, marched in the December cold across the Danube in central Budapest to gather in the government quarters.
The latest scandal erupted when surveillance video from a home for delinquent youth emerged, showing a director beating and kicking a boy in the head.
“On the side of the perpetrators”
Several people have been arrested and similar accommodations have been placed under police surveillance. Another manager is also suspected of running a prostitution ring.
"The Orbán government promised everything, but since then it has unfortunately turned out that every member of the Orbán government sided with the perpetrators," Magyar said in a speech to the protesters.
On Friday, a previously secret report from 2021 was released, showing that more than one in five children in state care institutions have been subjected to abuse and neglect.
Last year, both Justice Minister Judit Varga and President Katalin Novák resigned due to anger over the pardoning of a man who had tried to cover up sex crimes against children at an orphanage.
Orbán has condemned the latest case, saying that even "young criminals should not be treated this way."
