MPF questions Barroso’s decision on pedophilia case

This Tuesday (15), the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) reiterated its position against the decision of the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Luís Roberto Barroso, who prevented the continuation of an appeal against the opinion of the Supreme Court Justice (STJ) that , in practice, relativizes the crime of pedophilia and allows the penalty to be made more flexible.

The MPF had already requested a reform of the decision, in June of this year, after Barroso claimed that the case is of an infraconstitutional nature and cannot be judged by the STF. According to the minister, in order to go beyond the understanding of the STJ, it would be necessary to re-examine the facts and evidence in the file.

The MPF appealed to the Supreme Court after the STJ granted habeas corpus to a man convicted of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents by the Court of Justice of the State of Paraná (TJPR). According to the MPF, the STJ based its decision on a reinterpretation of article 244-A of the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA).

Article 244-A punishes with imprisonment from five to 12 years and a fine for the defendant who is convicted of “enticing, acting as an agent, attracting, or inducing a child or adolescent into sexual exploitation or prostitution”.

The STJ alleged that the crime could not be classified as sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, since the accused did not have a recurrent criminal conduct, being considered by the Court as a “occasional customer” of a network of sexual exploitation.

According to a communiqué from the MPF, the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, “reaffirms the thesis that it is expendable the requirement of habituality for the characterization of the criminal type of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, in the light of the principle of integral protection, of the Federal Constitution and of the international human rights treaties ratified by Brazil”.

Contrary to what Barroso stated, the PGR has highlighted the “evident constitutional nature” of the discussion “in view of the violation of art. 227 of the Charter of the Republic”, which ensures priority in the protection of the family and the State.

“Data from the Ministry of Human Rights indicate that, in the first four months of 2023 alone, there was an increase of almost 70% in crime compared to the same period in 2022. According to the survey, around 70,000 complaints and 400,000 violations of human rights of children and adolescents, including physical sexual violence, such as abuse, rape and sexual and psychological exploitation,” says an excerpt from the MPF statement.

In addition to the reform of Barroso’s decision, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requests that the case enter the system of general repercussion, with the establishment of an understanding aligned with the Federal Constitution to avoid innovations in the interpretation of the ECA in similar processes that are being processed in Justice.