Psychiatrist testifies Jairinho has 'perverse' profile, derives pleasure from child suffering

On Wednesday morning, a psychiatrist took the stand in a São Paulo courtroom and described a pattern of deliberate cruelty. Rafael Bernardon Ribeiro, a doctor trained at the University of São Paulo, had spent months analyzing the psychological profiles of two people accused in the death of Henry Borel, a four-year-old boy who died in March 2021. What he found, he told the jury, was a man with what he called a perverse personality—someone who derived satisfaction from inflicting pain on small children.

The man in question was Jairo Souza Santos Júnior, a former city councilman known as "Dr. Jairinho." He stands accused of qualified homicide, torture, fraud, and coercion in connection with Henry's death. The boy's mother, Monique Medeiros, is also on trial, charged with seven crimes including homicide, torture, and coercion. According to police and prosecutors, Jairinho beat the child to death while Medeiros failed to protect him.

Berniardon Ribeiro had not interviewed either defendant directly—a limitation that would later become the centerpiece of the defense's objection to his testimony. Instead, he reviewed their statements, watched recorded interviews, and spoke with people who had known them. Among those sources were two women who had been in relationships with Jairinho. One woman, Natasha de Oliveira Machado, told the psychiatrist that her daughter, then just over three years old, had her arm twisted by Jairinho and was instructed to claim the injury came from a jiu-jitsu class. The same child, according to Bernardon's account, was held underwater in a swimming pool. Another woman, Débora Mello Saraiva, reported that her son suffered a broken femur, was stomped on repeatedly, and had his head covered during attacks.

From these accounts, Bernardon identified what he described as a repeating pattern. "I was able to perceive a pattern of child abuse," he said from the witness stand. "There is a pattern of perversity in inflicting pain on children." He characterized Jairinho's behavior as targeting small children specifically, suggesting the infliction of suffering was itself the goal. Regarding Monique, the psychiatrist testified that when she learned of violence against her son, she showed no instinct to protect him—a finding that aligned with police investigation conclusions that she was aware of the abuse.

The defense responded swiftly and sharply. Rodrigo Faucz, one of Jairinho's lawyers, distributed a statement to reporters calling the testimony an "absurdity." He argued that medical ethics guidelines prohibited a psychiatrist from offering psychological profiles of people he had never directly interviewed. "This is a person who did not witness anything, did not interview anyone, and was simply hired by the prosecution to present personal impressions," Faucz wrote. He noted that the judge had previously barred this same psychiatrist from testifying in an earlier phase of the case. When Bernardon began discussing Monique's psychological state, her defense team moved to strike his entire testimony, making the same argument about ethical violations and lack of direct contact. Judge Elizabeth Machado Louro, presiding over the jury trial, denied the motion.

The trial had already heard from two police detectives the day before. Edson Henrique Damasceno, who led the investigation into Henry's death, testified that the initial account offered by both defendants—that the boy had fallen from a bed—was a "rehearsed fabrication." Messages recovered from the phone of Henry's nanny, Thayná de Oliveira Ferreira, provided evidence that Monique knew about the assaults. The two defendants initially shared a lawyer but have since separated into different legal teams.

Twenty-seven witnesses have been called in total, split between prosecution and defense. Seven jurors will ultimately decide the case. The trial was originally expected to last about five days, though the proceedings have already stretched longer. Jairinho faces charges of qualified homicide committed through cruel means that prevented the victim from defending himself, three counts of torture against a child, fraud, and coercion. The evidence presented so far paints a picture of systematic violence against a small child over an extended period, with a mother present but inactive.