Jail for ‘influencers’ who shared images of gang rape over social media

The utterly despicable gang rape of a 16-year-old in Loures, subsequently posted online and seen by as many as 32,000 people, has seen all young men involved handed ‘exemplary jail sentences’.

Loures court sentenced the four unemployed self-styled influencers to prison terms from seven to eight years, making a point of stressing that this type of crime is on the increase and therefore sentences need to reflect this.

Three of the young men involved have been awaiting trial in preventive custody. They will remain behind bars if they lodge an appeal.

A fourth young man – not initially arrested by police – is allowed to remain free while he lodges his own appeal, but his ‘bail terms’ have been tightened, in the interests of the victim.

This was always a shocking crime – not simply for what the perpetrators did, but because they boasted about it afterwards, and seemed to think that the whole episode was a huge joke.

The sharing of images to ‘followers’ (which amounted to crimes of pornography involving a minor) was equally appalling, as not one of the 32,000 people who received them seemed to think it was worth contacting authorities.

As it is today, the court has awarded the victim €50,000 in damages, to be paid by the four – albeit reports concede the men may never pay anything as none of them have any money.

The rape (which only involved two of the defendants) took place on the afternoon of February 12, 2025, after the 16-year-old initially agreed to have sexual relations in a public garden, and allowed the young men to film some of the acts.

Things deteriorated after the defendants moved the victim to ‘a garbage room’ in a nearby building, and continued their assaults on her there, even though she made it abundantly clear that she wanted to leave.

According to Expresso, although only two of the men (all under the age of 21 at the time) sexually abused the girl, the court ruled that all four were co-perpetrators during the period of the rape, in which there was no consent.

The paper adds that the girl “suffered injuries as a result of the gang rape”.

Evidence collected by PJ judicial police for this prosecution was based on testimony from the victim, and her mother, videos seized from the young men’s phones, and forensic examinations carried out at Loures’ Beatriz Ângelo Hospital.

Social media platform Tik Tok, where images were shared for a short period, also cooperated with the investigation.

The convicted men are from the Margem Sul (south bank of the Tejo River) and used social media to earn money through betting and recruiting new gamblers, adds Expresso.

Sources: Expresso/ Correio da Manhã

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.