Sophia case: ‘Pleasure in torturing this child’, says lawyer about exchange of messages between defendants | Mato Grosso do Sul

Lawyer and president of CDCA, Maria Isabela, talks about the Sophia Case

O g1 had access to the document that reveals torture sessions and even threats made by the stepfather about “breaking the girl’s neck” and giving her “severe whippings”.

Lawyer Maria Isabel stated that the messages show that, in Sophia’s case, the thesis of “excessive discipline” cannot be applied.

“Because you realize that there is no intention to discipline, there is almost a pleasure in torturing this child. It’s funny that when we talk about hitting a puppy, it’s violence against the animal, if you hit a woman, it’s violence against the woman, but hitting the child is discipline. This thought has to drop. And in Sophia’s case, it’s torture, because you realize that it’s reiterated, there’s a clumsy, futile reason to hit her.“, he defended.

Most of the conversations were taken from Stéphanie’s phone. The first message listed is from December 2, 2021, when Sophia is beaten for “taking” the toys from her brother’s hands.

• “She started acting awkwardly, wanting to take everything from his hand, then he went and handed it over, then, like, she started hitting him, then he went and told me, so I went and fought with her. Then I turned to the side a little and she went and hit him again. So I grabbed it and spoke to her again, then I had the tablet pen in my hand, right at the time she went to hit it, so I picked it up and hit her right on the finger, then she already bent the mouth, I said if you cried you would get hit again, he stayed quiet, then he couldn’t do it anymore”.

Time passes and on March 26, 2022, the mother once again shows her violent side, this time with her daughter, saying she is going to “throw Sophia against the wall” and receives scary instructions on how to make the little girl stop crying.

• – “Since the moment you left, she hasn’t stopped crying. I already knocked and it didn’t do anything.”
• – “Why don’t you pick up your cell phone and say you’re going to call me, I don’t know, try to scare her with something”, says Christian.
• – “I’m trying here, BO the stop, but even so, my head is exploding more than it was”
• – “Slap her, then you turn her face towards the mattress and keep holding her because then she stops crying, seriously, it seems like torture but it isn’t, because then she runs out of air and stops crying, you know.”

To the g1, Maria Isabela also cited the reports from the Guardianship Council, present in the case investigation. According to the lawyer, the counselors recorded that they advised Sophia’s mother, Stéphanie, not to attack the child anymore.

“In other words, they knew about the aggression. Why didn’t they remove the girl from the home? Because we have this lack of training. The professional cannot distinguish a mother who is being concealed to cover up an aggression, from a mother who actually went through an stress, emotional problem”, he added.

Lawyer Maria Isabel also recalled another part of the investigation, reported by Igor. When Jean and Igor arrived at the health unit where Sophia was taken lifeless, the nurses showed her in a diaper, even though she was already lifeless. Jean questioned the presence of the diaper, and the professional explained that she was very injured.

“The case is open at the TJ (Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul), it is no longer under judicial secrecy. So whoever wants to consult, consult. Draw your conclusions. There are so many failures, from the beginning, of the Guardianship Council, in health centers. Anyway, I hope that there really is a fair resolution to this case. And that people learn not to remain silent in the case of aggression against a child. That they have a little feeling of empathy, that they look at the child, as the father Jean says. Don’t look at couple X, Y, Z. Look at the child”, said the lawyer.

Sophia Jesus Ocampos, aged 2, died on January 26, 2023. She was taken dead by her mother to the UPA in Bairro Coronel Antonino. According to the coroner, the death had occurred about seven hours earlier.

In testimony, the mother confirmed that she knew the girl was dead when she went to the health unit. The autopsy report on the girl’s body, issued by the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Dentistry (IMOL), indicated that the cause of death was trauma to the cervical spine and confirmed that Sophia was raped.

The death certificate states that the cause of death was trauma to the cervical spine, which led to the accumulation of blood between the lung and the chest wall. The document also says that the girl suffered “non-recent sexual violence”.

Igor de Andrade, the girl’s father’s partner, told g1 that they tried to get custody of the child, but one of the impediments would be homophobia on the part of the victim’s mother. In the house where the child lived, cigarette butts and boxes were scattered on the porch. There were also bottles of alcoholic beverages.