The Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal was a case of

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

s involving a number of children and employees at

Casa Pia :''This article refers to the institution. For the child abuse scandal, see Casa Pia child sexual abuse scandal.'' The Casa Pia is a Portuguese institution founded by Maria I, known as ''A Pia'' ("Mary the Pious"), and organized by Police Intendan ...

, a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

state-run institution for the education and support of poor children and under-age

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

s.Giles Tremlett
Portugal rocked by child abuse scandal
Sunday 21 November 2004,

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One employee of the institution, which at the time comprised 10 orphanages and schools caring for 4,600 children, ran a male child prostitution network involving 100 boys. The scandal involved several prominent men, including TV presenter

Carlos Cruz Carlos Cruz may refer to: *Carlos Cruz (boxer) (1937–1970), Dominican lightweight world champion *Carlos Cruz (television presenter) (born 1942), Portuguese presenter and convicted paedophile *Juan-Carlos Cruz (born 1962), celebrity chef on Food ...

, former Casa Pia governor Manuel Abrantes, and former

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

ambassador Jorge Ritto. The trial was one of the longest running in Portuguese history, lasting more than five years, with testimony from 32 alleged victims, out of a total of over 800 witnesses and experts. On 3 September 2010,

, Carlos Silvino, Hugo Marçal, Manuel Abrantes, Ferreira Diniz and Jorge Ritto were convicted and sentenced to up to eighteen years in prison due to crimes occurring in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This was the first time an institutional sex abuse scandal had been taken to court in Portugal.

First revelations

The Portuguese Judiciary Police (''

Polícia Judiciária The (PJ; en, Judiciary Police) is the national criminal investigation police agency of Portugal, focused in fighting serious crimes, including homicides, kidnapping, organized crime, terrorism, illegal drug trade, corruption, cybercrime and fi ...

'') first accused the caretaker of a Casa Pia state-run children's home in 1981 of raping dozens of children over a period of 30 years, even though some reports of abuse pre-date the 1974

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

. Police accused the perpetrators of supplying children to men from Portugal and other countries, including to some prominent public figures in Portugal. However, these early allegations did not result in any legal action.

Second revelations

The scandal of alleged

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

at the state-run Casa Pia orphanages resurfaced when several former orphanage children came forward with accusations of abuse. The accusations linked some politicians, diplomats, and media celebrities—all of whom were alleged to have conspired in a paedophilia ring that had operated for decades. The scandal broke in September 2002 when the mother of one alleged victim, known as Joel, complained of abuse by staff at a Casa Pia house. Former Casa Pia children came forward to publicly accuse several employees of sexual abuse. The weekly magazine ''

Visão ''Visão'' is a Portuguese news magazine published weekly in Lisbon, Portugal. History and profile ''Visão'' was first published on 25 March 1993. The magazine is the successor to the weekly newspaper ''O Jornal'' which was published between 197 ...

'' reported that a Portuguese diplomat, Jorge Ritto, was removed from his post as consul in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

(1969–1971) after German authorities complained to Lisbon about his involvement with an under-age boy in a public park. Accused were diplomat Jorge Ritto,

, Carlos Silvino (a.k.a. Bibi, an employee of Casa Pia and a former pupil in the institution), Ferreira Diniz (a physician from Lisbon), Hugo Marçal (a lawyer who represented Carlos Silvino in the early stages of the process) and among other individuals, a marine archaeologist. Secretary of State for Labor and Training from 1999 to 2001,

Paulo Pedroso Paulo Pedroso (born 28 April 1965 in Aveiro, Portugal) is a Portuguese professor, politician, member of the Portuguese Parliament, and former Secretary of State and Minister for Labor and Training from 1999 to 2001. Pedroso graduated from ISCTE i ...

, who was responsible for the Casa Pia homes, which care for some 4,600 children at 10 centers around Portugal, was suspected of 15 cases of sexual violence against minors, which allegedly took place between 1999 and 2000. His case was also subsequently dropped. In September 2008, a Portuguese court ordered the state to pay 100,000 euros ($140,000) to the ex-minister Paulo Pedroso, on the grounds that he was wrongly detained on paedophilia charges. The Socialist Party leader at the time,

Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues Eduardo Luís Barreto Ferro Rodrigues (born 3 November 1949) is a Portuguese politician and economist who had been President of the Assembly of the Republic since 2015 until 29 March 2022, in the 13th (2015–2019) and 14th Legislatures (2019 ...

, who was a close personal friend of

, offered to undergo police questioning after "he had learned of plans to implicate him in the asa Piascandal". The weekly paper ''

Expresso Expresso may refer to: * Espresso, a coffee beverage * eXpresso, a hosted workspace for Microsoft Office communities * Expresso (Donkey Kong), a character in the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series * ''Expresso'' (newspaper), based in Lisbon, Portug ...

'' published a report on 25 May 2003, from four children who said they saw Ferro Rodrigues at locations where sexual abuse was taking place. The paper said there was no evidence he was personally involved and the Attorney General José Souto de Moura insisted he was not a suspect. Ferro Rodrigues took legal action against those who said they saw him at locations where sexual abuse was taking place. Rodrigues has said, "I want it to be clear: our fight will be serene but determined and it is and will only be directed at those who are responsible for this defamation, whatever their objective is." The Prime Minister at the time,

José Manuel Durão Barroso José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

, whose

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

ousted the

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

in March 2002, promised to bring life and honor back into the Casa Pia children's homes and allow new director Catalina Pestana to reform the institution. As a result, several senior staff of Casa Pia were fired after the 2002 revelations. However, Pestana told parliament and the media, as late as 2007, that there may still be

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

s in the Casa Pia system. She also criticised the legal changes made after the start of the trial, which she claims were made in order to help those who were present to court.Casa Pia: Catalina Pestana diz que não quis criticar juizes
, ,

Diário Digital ''Diário'' is the fourth album by Portuguese fado singer Mafalda Arnauth Mafalda Arnauth (born October 1974) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese fado singer. Life and career Arnauth was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 1974, and her ca ...

These controversial legal changes were partially reverted just before the sentence in September 2010. The Casa Pia abuse scandal has had the effect of raising public awareness of sexual abuse of children. The number of incidents reported to Portuguese police has soared after the scandal has been revealed.

Investigation and trial

The Casa Pia child sex abuse trial started in 2004. In 2004, as an ''

arguido ''Arguido'' (male, ) or ''arguida'' (female, ), normally translated "named suspect" or "formal suspect", is a status in Portuguese type legal systems, including those of Portugal, Angola and Mozambique. It is given to a person whom the authoriti ...

'' involved in the trial, Carlos Cruz published a book of personal reflections, ''Preso 374''. The final allegations, formerly scheduled for 20 October 2008 in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

were postponed several times. The country's justice system, often accused of being excruciatingly slow, is believed by some opinion makers such as journalists and Catalina Pestana (former head of Casa Pia), to be vulnerable to external pressures of well-connected personalities and the possibility of corrupting external interference has been considered a real danger, according to those critics. They feared that even if Carlos Silvino (the Casa Pia driver), whose initial trial had been twice postponed, is found guilty, better-connected abusers might go free. On 3 September 2010,

(seven years), Carlos Silvino (eighteen years), Hugo Marçal (six years, two months), Manuel Abrantes (five years, nine months), Ferreira Diniz (seven years) and Jorge Ritto (six years, eight months) were convicted on charges of paedophilia and other crimes occurring in the late 1990s and early 2000s.Tribunal dá 17 crimes como provados

Diário de Notícias ''Diário de Notícias'' () is a Portuguese daily newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal. Established since 1864, the paper is considered a newspaper of record for Portugal. History and profile ''Diário de Notícias'' was first published in ...

(3 September 2010) The full ruling, which allegedly runs to nearly 2,000 pages, was due to be released on 8 September 2010. However, it was delayed several times due to a

Microsoft Word Microsoft Word is a word processing software developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name ''Multi-Tool Word'' for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms includin ...

glitch. On 13 September 2010 the full ruling containing the verdict was released. According to chief prosecutor Miguel Matias, the victims were pleased with the outcome. The court ruling was hailed as a victory by those fighting for Casa Pia children's rights in Portugal, such as Pedro Namora, a former pupil at Casa Pia and now a lawyer who publicly supported the victims, and Catalina Pestana, who was head of Casa Pia during the period when some of the cases were made public in the early 2000s.Portuguese court finds 6 guilty of child abuse
,

The Daily Herald ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' is the name of various newspapers. ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' Australia * ''The Herald'' (Adelaide) and several similar names (1894–1924), a South Australian Labor weekly, then daily * '' Barossa and Light Heral ...

References

{{Abuse School sexual abuse scandals Violence in Portugal 1981 in Portugal 2004 in Portugal 2010 in Portugal 1981 crimes in Portugal 2004 crimes in Portugal 2010 crimes in Portugal 1981 in law 2004 in law 2010 in law Institutional abuse Sexual abuse cover-ups Sex gangs Incidents of violence against boys Scandals in Portugal Violence against children Violence against men in Europe

First revelations

Second revelations

Investigation and trial

See also

References