Suzy de Oliveira moved interviewer Dr Drauzio Varella to hug him and the TV audience to send him gifts after revealing that he is lonely in men’s prison, where he is housed despite identifying as a woman. It later came to light that he has raped or attempted to rape several children, one of whom he murdered.

BR — Guarulhos, São Paulo. The romanticized portrayal of a transgender inmate’s lonely existence in men’s prison moved the nation of Brazil last week when it aired on Fantástico, a television program that is broadcast on the Globo network. Hundreds of letters and gifts were sent for the inmate from around the country. A week later, it came to light that the inmate had raped multiple children, and is imprisoned for the merciless rape and murder of a small child. The nation has responded with outrage.

Fábio dos Santos Lemos (left) was raped and murdered by Rafael Tadeu de Oliveira dos Santos, who now identifies as a woman named Suzy. The deceased child’s mother (right) is shocked that strangers have given hugs and letters to the rapist and murderer of her child, while she has received no such love and support.

According to São Paulo Court of Justice documents (2014.00000636471 and 2017.0000531529), Rafael Tadeu de Oliveira dos Santos knew that the small son of a neighbor two houses down spent time alone at home while waiting for his parent to return from work. Mr de Oliveira asked the child to help him carry a monitor inside his home. Once he had lured the boy into his living room, Mr de Oliveira “practiced libidinous acts consisting of oral sex and anal sex with the minor Fábio dos Santos Lemos, who at the time was only nine years old” before killing the boy by asphyxiation. The murderer left the small body decomposing in his living room for 48 hours. He later dumped the body by the home of the boy’s family, and informed them that he had discovered their missing child, deceased.

Carlita Teixeira dos Santos, Mr de Oliveira’s aunt, revealed to the court during the case that he had attempted to rape his own five-year-old nephew during a holiday stay at his brother’s house. Additionally, he had had problems with his employers at a bakery after he “was accused of abusing a 3-year-old child, and the child’s relatives came to my house after him, wanting to kill him.” He once casually divulged to his aunt that, while in the process of burglarizing a house, he had come across a small child in the bedroom, and had covered the child’s mouth and raped the child.

His criminal delinquency had begun at a young age; “he stole, lied and did not go to school until he was 12. After that age, he started stealing with a gun and smoked marijuana,” his aunt testified. “At school, he was accused of jumping over the wall, going to the bathroom to touch someone and stealing from teachers.” During his teen years, “he went to rob, he went into an apartment and a girl with a young child in her lap got scared and jumped out the window, and he had a knife in his hand.”

In 2010, Mr de Oliveira was handed a prison sentence of 36 years, 8 months for the rape and murder of the young boy, Fábio. While in prison, the inmate came to believe that he is a woman, and had the name on his medical records changed to Suzy de Oliveira.

On March 1, 2020, Globo aired interviews conducted by Dr Antônio Drauzio Varella, an oncologist, scientist, writer and sometime prison volunteer who rose to nationwide fame and prestige by making appearances on radio, TV and his own YouTube channel. The purpose of the report, “Trans women prisoners face prejudice, abandonment and violence” on Fantástico, which bills itself as “The Show of Life,” was to raise awareness and empathy about the plight of transgender-identifying inmates housed in men’s prisons.

Moved by Suzy de Oliveira’s tale of abandonment and loneliness, Dr Drauzio Varella, left, wrapped the transgender inmate in his arms.

The report profiled several inmates, and highlighted the “loneliness” of one Suzy de Oliveira. Mr de Oliveira shared that he had received no visitors or letters throughout his years of imprisonment. Although his offenses against children was at the root of his alienation from his family, Mr de Oliveira implied that the “abandonment” was due to his gender identity and sexual orientation. Moved to emotion, Dr Drauzio Varella rose from his seat and embraced Mr de Oliveira.

The viewing audience, charmed by the inmate, made the name of Suzy de Oliveira trend on Twitter, and sent him 234 letters, 16 books, two Bibles, makeup, chocolate, envelopes and pens within just a five-day time span, Globo proudly revealed. Some of the items were sent by small children at the encouragement of teachers, and by religious groups.

On Sunday, March 8, news and opinion website The Antagonist dropped a bomb, revealing that the inmate who had stirred the nation’s sympathy is a convicted child rapist and murderer. There was anger across social media from a nation that felt largely betrayed and manipulated by the original report from the press. Some called for Globo’s closure, and revocation of the doctor’s license.

Attempting to mitigate the damage to his image, the doctor issued a statement:

For over 30 years, I’ve been going to jails, where I deal with the health of male and female inmates. Everywhere I practice medicine, whether in my office or in prisons, I do not ask what my patients may have done wrong. I follow this conduct so that my personal judgment does not prevent me from fulfilling the oath I took when I became a doctor. In my work on television, I follow the same principles. In the case of Fantástico’s report last week, I did not ask about the crimes committed by the women interviewed. I’m a doctor, not a judge.

Dr Drauzio Varella issued an apology to the family of the deceased child. “I can imagine the pain and I apologize to the boy’s family.”

Minister of Education Abraham Bragança de Vasconcellos Weintraub slammed Dr Drauzio Varella on Twitter: “You have NO empathy or compassion for the children and families who are victims of this pedophile! Keep defending this murderous rapist, you deserve each other. Before I forget: I wish you’d end up in hell!” Mr Weintraub called for a boycott of Globo.

Lawyer Bruna Castro posted a letter written by client Suzy de Oliveira on Instagram.

The letter states:

I Suzi Oliveira, ‘Rafael Tadeu’, come to say that in the interviews with the newspaper Fantástico I was not asked anything about the BO [police report]. I know I made a lot of mistakes. At no time did I try to pass as an innocent and since that day I have truly regretted it and today I am here paying for everything I committed… I was wrong and I’m paying every day – every hour and every minute here in this place… Before I didn’t have that opportunity, now I’m just having to ask for forgiveness for my mistake in the past…

Ms Aparecida dos Santos, the mother of the deceased boy, told the press that she was shocked to see the rapist and murderer of her child portrayed as a victim by Globo. She was especially upset that, while the child killer had received a hug and outpouring of kind letters, she had received no such love from the public in response to the senseless loss of her child at that killer’s hands.

One Facebook commenter wrote sardonically,

On Sunday, on Fantástico, Dráuzio Varella will go to the graves of the people (including children) who were murdered by the inmates he gave so much consideration.

– How long has it been since you received a visit, a hug? – he’ll ask.

And he will hear the silence.

Sunday at the Fantástico.