A former professional soccer player who raped a young woman in her home at knifepoint and threatened to kill her and her parents has been jailed for nine years.

BY OLIVIA KELLEHER

Tiago Damasceno Sousa (39) who previously played for America Mineiro in Brazil, also made a video recording of the sickening attack, a court heard. 

He pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court in Cork to raping his 19-year-old victim at her home on March 29th, 2024.

Dt Garda Áine O’Regan said the victim endured a horrific two-hour ordeal and was raped and threatened at knifepoint between 7am and 9am.

The court heard the woman woke to find an intruder, later identified as Sousa, leaning over her bed. He was armed with a knife and covered her mouth. 

Using Google translate he warned her to ‘shut up’ and said if she failed to comply he would kill her and her parents. He swung the knife back and forth as he lay on top of her.

Dt Gda O’Regan said the teenage victim decided to try and trick him in a bid to get him to leave her alone.

‘She agreed to have sex the following day. But he kept slapping her in the face, saying, ‘No, you are going to do it now.’ She agreed to give him oral sex.

‘When she said ‘no video’ [recording] to him he told her to shut up. He slapped her in the face because he believed she was not showing pleasure… He kept apologising to her. He said he had to have proof that she was enjoying it.’

Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford was told Sousa was living in West Cork for over a year at the time of the offence. He required an interpreter at the sentencing hearing. 

It was established by gardaí that he had his bags packed and had a flight to Brazil booked for the following day. He intended to spend a month in Brazil and then return to Ireland.

Gardaí arrested the accused on the same day the rape occurred. They found that he had a number of videos on his phone from that morning, including one lasting 52 seconds which recorded sexual intercourse.

 In a victim impact statement the woman said it was hard to understand how a man with a daughter her own age could carry such a heinous offence. 

‘No matter how many showers I had it felt like his fingerprints were on my body permanently.’

She detailed the impact of the incident on her life.

‘It started off as me not wanting to be in school and pretty much around people, to sleepless nights, constant nightmares that I still remember and still have. I've a fear of being alone [at home].

‘I began going to therapy hoping it would help my trauma. But it didn’t. I’ve [self-harmed] because it felt like his fingerprints were still there. That didn’t help either. Other days I was fully convinced I should've died that day by being stabbed.

‘That was the house I grew up in and now it's in my nightmares. No one should ever have to fear for their safety in their own home.’

Defence barrister Jane Hyland said the accused had consumed a significant amount of alcohol before the attack. 

Sousa has no previous convictions either in this country or in Brazil. Ms Hyland described what occurred as an ‘act of madness’ on behalf of her client.

Ms Justice Lankford jailed Sousa for nine years and backdated the sentence to March 29th, 2024 when he entered custody.