Brazilian priest abused young girls, forced one to have an abortion

SAO PAULO – On August 18, a priest was arrested in the city of Coari, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, after police investigations revealed that he had abused at least four teenagers.

One of them became pregnant and was forced by him to have an abortion.

Father Paulo Araújo da Silva, 31, was first reported by an anonymous person in 2023. Police launched an investigation and spoke with one of his victims. The 17-year-old teen told authorities that she and da Silva began a relationship when she was just 14. She said he recorded and saved videos of their sexual acts.

Police officer José Barradas Jr. told the press that the victim was under enormous pressure from Da Silva last year when she asked the police for help.

“She suffered severe psychological violence, as the priest not only took the victims into his parish but also forced them to maintain a relationship with him,” he said, according to the local news website. Amazonas CurrentDa Silva would never allow the victims to stop seeing him, even saying things like, “If you’re not with me, you’re not going to be with anyone else.”

One of the victims told investigators she had become pregnant in 2023. He immediately told her to have an abortion.

“That is the context in which a 34-year-old man, who is now on the run, also participated (in the crime). He is a friend of the priest and was the one who gave the teenager a drug, which she took and which resulted in the abortion,” Barradas said, according to the Brazilian news outlet G1.

The victim’s unborn child was found in the yard of the man’s home and buried there, the deputy sheriff added that photographs and the woman’s testimony corroborated that claim.

All the victims identified were churchgoers and members of the parish of Saint Peter of the diocese of Coari, led by da Silva. According to the police, witnesses told them that the priest always asked the victims to bring other girls so that they could have group sex. And he always made sure that everything was recorded.

When officers entered the parish to arrest Da Silva, he was in bed with a young woman who had just turned 18, “which means the priest had already had sex with her when she was a minor,” Barradas said.

Police seized da Silva’s smartphone and found at least 260 videos of the priest performing sexual acts with minors. The priest also had R$30,000 (approximately US$5,500) in his bedroom.

According to the Coari diocese, da Silva was born in 1992 and ordained a priest in 2018.

On August 18, following the priest’s imprisonment, the diocese issued a statement expressing its “rejection of all forms of abuse and exploitation.”

“The Diocese of Coari expresses its solidarity with the victims and their families and is immediately available to accompany and help (the victims) overcome the trauma caused by the abuses of Father Paulo Araújo da Silva,” the document said.

The diocese said “all necessary canonical measures” had been taken. The priest has been suspended and is no longer allowed to have any activity in the parish. The church is also available to cooperate with authorities in the investigation, concluded the note, signed by the chancellor of the diocese, Father Josinaldo Plácido da Silva.

The priest will be charged with crimes including raping minors or vulnerable persons, failing to provide assistance to children and teenagers, producing and storing pornographic content involving minors, forcing an abortion and threatening a woman with violence.

Police said the investigation will continue as other people may have been involved in the priest’s criminal activities. Additional victims may also emerge, authorities confirmed.

Crux could not find the priest’s lawyer. Members of his parish and lay Catholics involved in church ministries declined to comment on the scandal.

On the Coari diocese website, da Silva appears as a priest in charge of local youth ministry. It was not possible to determine how long da Silva had been working directly with teenagers in the region.