The Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) acquitted a man accused of raping a 13-year-old girl, this Wednesday (04).
The case occurred when he was 20 years old and dated the 13-year-and-8-month-old teenager, having sexual relations with her.
According to the Court, the acquittal given by the Sixth Panel of the STJ was based on the lack of elements in the process that indicated that the man took advantage of the minor’s age or vulnerability.
THE Article 217-A of the Penal Code establishes that the crime of rape of a vulnerable person is configured even if the victim has given consent, or has previous sexual experience or a romantic relationship with the perpetrator.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal with the Court against the decision of the state court that tried the case in the first instance.
The MP alleged that, knowing that an adult man had sexual relations with a minor under 14 years of age, the situation would constitute rape of a vulnerable person, regardless of the consent of the victim and her legal guardian.
The teenager’s mother had agreed to the relationship between her daughter and the man. However, due to a disagreement with her daughter, the young woman left home and went to live with her boyfriend.
According to STJ minister Sebastião Reis Junior, the local court understood that the man and the teenager had a relationship that lasted two and a half years. Therefore, they would have formed their own family during that period.
The judge also explained that the court does not reexamine the facts and evidence in the case, in accordance with Summary 7 of the STJ, which states that the measure is not admissible in the judgment of a special appeal.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office had defended the review of the grounds for the state court’s decision, to justify the defendant’s acquittal, based on the lack of evidence.
The decision by the Sixth Panel, made up of five justices, had only one dissenting vote among the judges. Justice Rogerio Schietti Cruz stated that the ruling violates article 217-A by downplaying the adolescent’s vulnerability.
The judge also said that the opinion violates all legislative and jurisprudential developments in the protection of children and adolescents in Brazil.
*Under supervision
This content was originally published in STJ: sexual intercourse between a 20-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl was not rape on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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