Casa Pia: the biggest sexual abuse scandal tried in Portugal began 20 years ago
The Casa Pia process, the biggest scandal of abuses tried in Portugal and which involved figures such as television presenter Carlos Cruz or socialist politician Paulo Pedroso, began 20 years ago, but still has pending procedural issues.
The huge scandal of sexual abuse of students at the centenary state teaching institution in Lisbon, which made a lot of ink run in the Portuguese and international media, broke out on November 23, 2002 with a piece of news by journalist FelĂcia Cabrita published in the weekly Expresso and a report on SICof the same business group.
The news that shook that Friday gave a note of a Casa Pia driver, Carlos Silvino da Silva, known by the nickname “Bibi”, who was abused as a student at the institution and later came to abuse students🇧🇷 The news also said that Silvino also worked as a recruiter of boys for sexual acts with prominent figures in Portuguese society.including politics and diplomacy, among others, in a case that saw presenter Carlos Cruz’s “Mr. Television” as the most publicized defendant.
Two days after the report in which “Bibi” appeared in a red jacket in the institution’s parking lot denying what was in the news, the driver was arrested, ending up in preventive detention by court decision.
followed months of news and reports on the case – which shared the media attention with the judgment of the Modern University process, which involved personalities such as the then Minister of Defense Paulo Portas -, until the arrest the following year (2003), on January 31, of the doctor Ferreira Diniz, of the lawyer Hugo Marçal and Carlos Cruz, after an alleged car chase by the Judiciary Police (PJ) to Quarteira (Algarve), which was denied by the defendant and never confirmed by the authorities.
After being heard as defendants by the investigating judge Rui Teixeira, the following day (February 1st) Hugo Marçal was released, while Ferreira Diniz and Carlos Cruz were held in custody.
Fans of conspiracy theories emphasized at the time that Cruz was arrested on February 1, month two, of year three, which culminated in the numbers 1, 2, 3, the name of the program that he presented for so many years.
In the same month, Gertrudes Nunes, owner of a villa in Elvas, Alentejo, is accused of the crime of pimping, for allegedly providing her home for meetings of sexual abuse of minors to defendants in the process.
Following the media coverage of the case, in the following April, the deputy ombudsman at Casa Pia Manuel Abrantes was arrested, also on suspicion of sexual abuse of students, followed in May by former ambassador Jorge Ritto and former Socialist Minister of Labor and Solidarity Paulo Pedrosoall ending up in preventive detention.
In the same month, the comedian Herman José was subjected to judicial interrogation and also constituted a defendantand the underwater archaeologist Francisco Alves was suspected of lending his house in Ajuda (Lisbon) for meetings with childrenbut he ended up being made a defendant only for the possession of an old weapon found in a house search and judged separately.
At that time, the case had 13 defendants, but the charge against Herman José dropped in the education phase and Paulo Pedroso, accused of 23 crimes of sexual abuse of minors, ended up not being prosecuted and was released after four and a half months of preventive detentioncoming later, after having left political life and gone to work abroad, to receive a compensation from the Portuguese State.
The arrest of Paulo Pedroso caused a stir in society as he was detained by the PJ in the plenary of the Assembly of the Republicafter lifting his parliamentary immunity, in an action that was filmed live by SIC, already warned of the arrest.
Trial began in November 2004
In the midst of all the national and international media coverage of the process, in which politicians were appointed [antigos ministros e presidentes da AR] like Ferro Rodrigues and Jaime Gama, the trial began in November 2004 at the Boa Hora Court, in Lisbon, in a huge media sensation caused by journalists, police and onlookers, coming a few sessions later to the Monsanto Court and then, in January 2005, for the former Military Court of Santa Clara, next to Feira da Ladra.
The process, in which the victims were heard behind closed doors, and which had as one of the main protagonists the then provider of Casa Pia Catalina Pestanathat effective testimonials that made many first pages and openings of television news, was one of the longest and most well-publicized in Portuguese justice, causing the same amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Trial ends with seven defendants
The trial, which ended with seven defendants (Carlos Silvino, Carlos Cruz, Manuel Abrantes, Jorge Ritto, Ferreira Diniz, Hugo Marçal and Gertrudes Nunes) lasted about five years and eight months, had 461 hearings, 980 witnesses (since “Bibi’s” defense included almost all the other defendants) and more than 70,000 documents.
The collective of judges judgment, presided over by Ana Peres and also constituted by Lopes Barata and Ester Santos, ended up proving the sexual abuse of the minors in question and that most of the defendants participated in the crimes.
In addition to Gertrudes Nunes, who was acquitted, all the remaining defendants were sentenced to exceptions to effective prison sentences in the first instance.
After an appeal to the Lisbon Court of Appeal, the part referring to the alleged crimes committed at Elvas’ house was ordered to be repeated, ending up with Carlos Cruz and Hugo Marçal being acquitted of nostalgia.
The process was fertile in procedural incidents, among the requests for removal of judges, most of which were carried out by “Bibi’s” lawyer at the time, JosĂ© Maria Martins.
“Bibi”, who was initially indicted for around 600 crimes, saw the Public Prosecutor’s Office give 167 as proven.
The prosecution’s charges for the seven defendants included crimes of sexual abuse of minors, homosexual acts with teenagers and pimping.
Carlos Silvino died in court for the crimes, but in 2012 he ended up denying everything, claiming that he had been suffocated to inculcate the defendants, joining him one of the victims, not generated at all in the process.
After the judgment was read, on September 3, 2010, Carlos Silvino was sentenced to 18 years in prison (which were reduced to 15 by decision of the High Court), Carlos Cruz and Ferreira Diniz to seven years, Jorge Ritto to six years and eight months , Manuel Abrantes to five years and nine months.
Hugo Marçal, sentenced by the first instance to six years and two months in jail, was acquitted.
“Bibi” was released and was released on parole on July 17, 2022, after serving 12 of the 15 years he was sentenced to, Carlos Cruz was released in 2016, JoĂŁo Ferreira Diniz was released in 2014 under house arrest due to illness and died in March 2022, Jorge Rito released in 2014 due to serious illness and Manuel Abrantes in 2017.
Two decades later, Carlos Cruz still has a pending complaint at the European Court of Human Rights against the Portuguese State and an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice, after being sentenced last September 15 by the Lisbon Relation to the payment of two indemnities of 25 thousand euros to two victims.