Effective arrest of businessman Lousada for sexually assaulting his lover’s niece

The Guimarães Court of Appeal reduced the prison sentence of a 70-year-old man from Lousada, Porto district, from six years to five years and 10 months, who sexually abused a girl for at least five years.

According to the October 17 ruling, which Lusa accessed today, the abuse began when the victim was 8 years old and occurred at the home of the accused’s lover, which the victim frequented, in a car and in dressing rooms in the city. center shops.advertising.

The victim is the niece of a woman with whom the accused allegedly had an extramarital relationship for over 20 years.

The woman worked as a real estate salesman for a construction company in Lousada, of which the defendant, now 75 years old, is the chairman of the board of directors.

The court says that the defendant took the victim to shopping centers several times, where he bought her clothes, and entered the store’s dressing rooms, taking the opportunity to commit violence.

One of these violations occurred on February 2, 2018 in the Braga shopping center.

Store employees reported finding “strange movements consistent with sexually suggestive practices inside one of the fitting rooms” and then noticed a “sweating” man emerge from the room and approach the checkout with his clothes on, who had paid, followed by a young woman with “disheveled hair”

Employees then went to the fitting room and found “fluids that appeared to be sperm” on the floor and reported the matter to police.

Review of CCTV images led to the identification of the accused.

In addition, the accused also took photographs of the minor without clothes and asked her to send him a photograph of her genitals.

At first instance in the Braga court, the defendant was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for 10 offenses of sexual abuse of a child, three offenses of unlawful use of photographs and one offense of pornography of minors.

The defendant appealed to the court of appeal, which found the crime of pornography of minors unproven and, as a result, reduced the sentence by two months, setting it at five years and 10 months.

In his testimony, the defendant generally denied the alleged cruelty in the charges, however, admitting his “cohabitation” with the minor, given his relationship with her aunt.

The court emphasizes that the defendant did not give any explanation for the fact that the minor reported the cruel acts he had committed.

“The defendant’s statements were incoherent, implausible and based on the evidence presented,” the ruling adds.

However, the defendant believes that if the court finds him truly guilty, the sentence should not exceed four years’ imprisonment and should be suspended upon execution.

At the same time, he emphasizes his “advanced” age, “good behavior” before and after the events and lack of a criminal record.

The defense also argues that the minor’s family and close relationship with her aunt and godmother “facilitated” defendant’s actions and led to the commission of the acts, and that the present trial did not materially impact defendant’s family context.

Another argument is that the present case is not in the public domain of the defendant’s place of residence and therefore he is not a “target for refusal.”

The arguments, which did not convince the court which sentenced him to an effective prison sentence, emphasized the “high illegality of the sexual assault”, the “considerable severity” of the psychological damage caused to the victim and the “strong intent” with which the accused acted.

In a conversation with Lusa, the accused’s lawyer said that an appeal would be filed in the Supreme Court.