Brazil: Rio gang who raped American tourist jailed
Two men in Brazil have been
sentenced to 49 years in jail each for
kidnapping and repeatedly raping an
American woman on a minibus in Rio
de Janeiro.
Driver Jonathan Froudakis de Souza, 20,
and conductor Walace Aparecido de
Souza Silva, 21, were sentenced for
robbery, extortion and rape.
They abducted the American woman
after she boarded the bus in the
Copacabana area of Rio in March.
She was raped in front of her boyfriend,
a French citizen.
Another gang member was given 21
years and a 14-year-old boy is yet to be
tried.
The incident raised security concerns
ahead of next year's football World Cup
in Brazil and the 2016 Olympics, which
the city will host.
'Humiliated'
Judge Guilherme Schilling Pollo Duarte in
Rio de Janeiro said the gang had been
operating in the area for months,
targeting mainly foreign tourists.
The gang had been operating in Rio's most
popular tourist spots
The woman was "humiliated, suffering
brutally at the hands of her kidnappers,
in an act that caused repulsion and
indignation", said Judge Pollo Duarte.
The American woman and her boyfriend
had boarded the minibus late on 30
March.
The vehicle was going to Lapa, a popular
nightlife spot in the old city centre.
A few minutes later, the gang robbed six
other passengers who were on the
minibus and forced them to get off.
But they ordered the American woman,
who had been living in Rio, and her
boyfriend to stay.
He was handcuffed and beaten and had
his nose broken.
Dumped outside Rio
The driver, the conductor and another
gang member took turns to rape her
while the minibus was driven around the
city.
"It is difficult to believe that all such acts
were perpetrated by human beings," said
Judge Pollo Duarte.
The couple were dumped in the nearby
city of Itaborai after being forced to use
their credit cards to buy goods and
withdraw money from cash machines.
The gang member sentenced to 21 years
was Carlos Armando Costa dos Santos,
21.
The 14-year-old cannot be named for
legal reasons. He has been accused of
rape and robbery.
After the incident hit the headlines in
late March, other women recognised the
gang members and said they had been
the victims of similar attacks.
