Model agency owner convicted of rape and “reducing some analogous condition to slavery”

The owner of a modeling agency, which operated in Recife, was convicted by the Federal Regional Court of the 5th region (TRF-5) for reducing someone to a condition analogous to slavery, indecent assault and rape.

In a text posted on the website on Monday (22), the TRF-5 reported having confirmed the sentence of the 36th Federal Court of Pernambuco (JFPE).

According to the Federal Regional Court, the case occurred in 2004. The agency no longer operates in the market. The convict was identified only by his initials.

How did it happen

The Fifth Panel of the TRF5 denied the appeal filed by GSS.

He asked for the reform of the sentence handed down by the Federal Court, in the 1st instance.

To this end, he claimed “there was not sufficient proof of the authorship of the crimes”.

According to the text of the TRF-5, the defense also made a request to reduce the sentence, arguing that “the judicial circumstances provided for in the Penal Code should be considered favorable to the accused, with the base sentence being set at the legal minimum.”

Rapporteur

According to the case’s rapporteur, federal judge Cibele Benevides, there were “countless testimonies of sexual abuse committed by the appellant, routinely, within the modeling agency”.

Furthermore, according to the judge, “there would be evidence that several victims were subjected to tests, in which they were forced to undress and perform sexual acts.”

The files

According to the records, it was demonstrated that GSS subjected models to photo shoots, “with the determination that they be photographed semi-nude, in erotic poses or with mutual touching of private parts”.

the TRF-5 reported that “there is also evidence that, within the agency, on several occasions, videos with pornographic content were shown to the young women, who were often accommodated in the same bed as the defendant.”

“He used these moments to equally satisfy his lust, touching the victims’ private parts. It is clear, moreover, that the appellant sought to naturalize such practices, arguing that they constituted part of the preparation for the modeling career sought by the victims”, stated Cibele Benevides. Regarding the request to reform the sentence, the judge stated that there was no justification for the base sentence to be corrected.

Historic

In 2004, the Public Ministry of Pernambuco (MPPE) became aware of signs that the modeling agency was being used to commit criminal conduct.

In compliance with a search and seizure warrant and arrest order against the accused, police officers found two teenagers at risk at the agency’s address.

Upon learning of GSS’s arrest through the press, new victims sought out the authorities to report other abuses.

The MPPE’s first complaint was not even accepted by the state court. The case dragged on for years, until it reached the Federal Court in 2019.

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) ratified the complaint offered by the MPPE and charged the accused with the crimes of: slave-like conditions against five victims, four of whom were minors; violent indecent assault against a 12-year-old victim, filmed together with other teenagers in an erotic session; and rape against a 15-year-old teenager, with increased sentence due to the perpetrator being the victim’s employer.