The head judge of the District of Abadiânia (GO), Marcos Boechat Lopes Filho, sentenced João Teixeira de Faria, known as João de Deus, to another 109 years in prison. Found guilty in three new cases of sexual violation, João de Deus will also have to pay victims up to R$ 100,000 in compensation. The judgment was handed down on Wednesday (7). As he had already been convicted before in six other cases, including for rape of a vulnerable person and illegal and irregular possession of firearms, João de Deus now has to bear the penalties of nine cases. Together, the nine convictions exceed 223 years of imprisonment, but due to his age and health status, he is under house arrest. The first allegations against João de Deus surfaced in December 2018, when the program Conversa com Bial, on TV Globo, aired the report of several women who claim to have been victims of the medium. According to the victims’ reports, João de Deus would have taken them to isolated rooms in the spiritist center he founded, in Abadiânia (GO) and molested them, caressing their bodies. Some women said that the medium even exposed his penis, forcing them to touch it under the pretext of healing them. João de Deus always denied the accusations, but after the first accusations, other women sought the authorities, claiming to have been raped by the man who, over the years, attracted thousands of people in search of spiritual healing, becoming known throughout the country. . Many of the complaints received by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Civil Police of Goiás over the course of months were not followed up due to lack of evidence or inconsistencies in the reports. Even so, the investigations revealed a plot involving the transfer of millions of reais, weapons and power disputes. In the first of three sentences handed down this Wednesday, João de Deus was sentenced to 51 years and 9 months in prison for sexually violating five victims, resorting to fraud and rape of a vulnerable person. The crimes occurred between 2010 and 2016. In this case, the defendant and his son, Sandro Teixeira de Oliveira, were acquitted of witness corruption and coercion in the course of the process. The second sentence amounted to 16 years and 10 months of imprisonment for the same crimes, in relation to three victims between the years 2011 and 2013. In this process, João de Deus was acquitted in relation to three other victims and the extinction of punishment for prescription in relation to a victim. The defendant was also sentenced to 41 years and 4 months in prison, also for sexual violation through fraud and rape of a vulnerable person. This time, the process involved five victims, in episodes that occurred between 2010 and 2015. The report has still not been able to contact João de Deus’ defense.
Agência Brasil
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