This Argentine Actress Who Said She Was Raped By Her Male Co-Star When She Was 16 Has Finally Got Justice
Thelma Fardin said she sought justice for the girl she was and that the court’s decision was “a message of hope for everyone who suffered and is suffering from abuse”.
This Argentine actress who said she was raped by her male co-star when she was 16 has finally got justice.
In 2018, 31-year-old Thelma Fardin said she was raped by her co-star Juan Darthés in 2009 when she was 16 and he was 45.
Fardin said the Brazilian-born actor had lured her back to his hotel room in Nicaragua during the international tour of their TV series, “Patito Feo” or “Ugly Duckling”.
She said he had raped her after he forced her to touch his erection and said “look at what you do to me”, as if it were her fault.
Fardin’s story went viral and sparked a #MeToo movement in Argentina.
Tens of thousands of people began sharing their own experiences with the hashtag #MiraComoNosPonemos – “look at what you do to us” – a variation of what Darthés had said to Fardin.
Months earlier, three other actresses had also come forward to say Darthés sexually harassed them.
Darthés denied the allegations and moved back to his home in Brazil, where Fardin sued him.
She had already filed lawsuits in Nicaragua and Argentina but had to do it again in Brazil since Brazil does not allow other countries to extradite its citizens.
In May 2023, a court in Brazil acquitted Darthés over “insufficient evidence” because Brazilian law requires victims of sexual abuse to prove penetration had happen at that time.
Fardin appealed the decision and on Monday June 10, the court overturned the acquittal.
The court found Darthés guilty of statutory rape and sentenced him to six years in prison.
Fardin said she sought justice for the girl she was and that the court’s decision was “a message of hope for everyone who suffered and is suffering from abuse”.
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