Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent São João de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · 2013

Brazil: Assembleia de Deus dos Últimos Dias founding pastor convicted of raping a congregant; Supreme Federal Court cites his spiritual authority as the coercion

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Disposition and response

Material that narrows or disputes the record

Appellate history

2018-02-27

The STF's First Panel voted 2-1 to overturn a lower injunction that had kept Pereira da Silva free, restoring his imprisonment on the 2013 rape conviction. Justice Alexandre de Moraes's opinion held that, beyond physical violence, the pastor exercised psychological violence by using his spiritual leadership to frighten the victim into believing she was demon-possessed.

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

founding pastor, Assembleia de Deus dos Últimos Dias (ADUD)

Organization

Assembleia de Deus dos Últimos Dias (ADUD)

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court itself found the operative coercion: Pereira da Silva, as founding pastor, used his spiritual leadership to convince the victim she was possessed by a demon, and it was that belief, not merely physical force, that the Court held made the crime unrefusable. This is a rare instance of a national high court naming the spiritual-authority mechanism directly in its own opinion.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Threatened spiritual consequence

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2013-09-01 · trial and sentencing

2nd Criminal Court of São João de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro. Marcos Pereira da Silva, founder of the Assembleia de Deus dos Últimos Dias, was convicted of raping a congregant of his church on the church premises in late 2006 and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in closed regime. He was investigated for abuse of at least six followers; the single count tried resulted in conviction.
2018-02-27 · habeas corpus denied; conviction's custodial effect restored

Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), 1st Panel. Having been free since a December 2014 habeas corpus injunction, Pereira da Silva had that injunction overturned by the STF's First Panel (2-1) applying Súmula 608 (rape by actual violence is publicly, unconditionally actionable). Justice Alexandre de Moraes's opinion found the pastor exercised psychological violence by using his spiritual leadership to make the victim believe she was possessed by a demon, in addition to physical violence.

Documented coercion mechanisms

pastoral access to a congregant on church premises
psychological coercion via claimed spiritual authority, made the victim believe she was demon-possessed (STF finding)

Cited record

Sources

national press sentencing report Gazeta do Povo, 'Pastor Marcos é condenado a 15 anos de prisão por estupro de fiel' (2013).: Reports the 2nd Criminal Court of São João de Meriti's conviction and 15-year closed-regime sentence of Assembleia de Deus dos Últimos Dias founder Marcos Pereira da Silva for the 2006 rape of a follower on church premises, and that witnesses described him as manipulative and cold, using people's good faith to deceive them.
high court record appellate opinion summary Supremo Tribunal Federal, 'STF nega HC a pastor condenado por estupro' notícias.STF.jus.br (27 Feb. 2018), and Notícias Gospel, 'Supremo cassa liminar e pastor Marcos Pereira será preso novamente no caso de estupro' (2018).: Official STF press item and independent press confirmation that the First Panel voted 2-1 on 27 February 2018 to overturn the habeas corpus injunction that had freed Pereira da Silva, restoring the custodial effect of his rape conviction; Justice Alexandre de Moraes's opinion is quoted holding that beyond physical violence, the pastor used his spiritual leadership to frighten the victim and make her believe she was possessed by a demon, applying STF Súmula 608 on unconditional public criminal action for rape by actual violence.

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

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Source and tier basis: https://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/vida-e-cidadania/pastor-marcos-e-condenado-a-15-anos-de-prisao-por-estupro-de-fiel-buvgrnzvqnjwhuyjcl8jqynv2/ Corpus classification: national-press; evidentiary role: sentencing-report. SHA-256 a88024f779e5498b83e92793b9a216c8119f709d44f5bd1461c3724643061886
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
Source and tier basis: https://noticias.stf.jus.br/postsnoticias/1a-turma-nega-hc-a-pastor-condenado-por-atentado-violento-ao-pudor-praticado-com-violencia-real/ Corpus classification: high-court-record; evidentiary role: appellate-opinion-summary. SHA-256 3c167b9fc8f1874d0c2048abec8f36c536c6c70c5a89de318f67416921da0a3b
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

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