STJ Upholds Felipe Prior’s 2014 Rape Conviction in Single-Minister Ruling

Overview

• Minister Reynaldo Soares da Fonseca issued the monocratic decision on December 19, 2025.
• The ruling keeps in place an eight-year sentence in a semi-open regime set after a 2024 review by the São Paulo Court of Justice.
• Prior remains at liberty as the case continues through the appeals process.
• According to the first-instance judgment, the 2014 crime occurred after a university party when the victim, intoxicated and unable to resist, was assaulted in a car.
• Across four rape-related cases, Prior has two acquittals, one conviction now maintained by the STJ, and one 2018 allegation from Biritiba Mirim still awaiting trial, and his defense declined to comment.