The Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) announced on Wednesday that it has rejected an appeal lodged by the mother of Jéssica Biscaia, a three-year-old girl who was killed in June 2022, thereby upholding her 25-year prison sentence.
“In a ruling by the 3rd section, approved today, the Supreme Court of Justice denied the appeal filed by the defendant in the ‘Jéssica case,’ the mother of the 3-year-old victim, confirming her sentence of 25 years imprisonment for the crime of qualified homicide committed through omission,” the STJ explained in a statement.
The defendant had previously been sentenced by the Setúbal District Court, alongside three other defendants who received identical 25-year sentences for the same crime. This decision was affirmed by the Évora Appeal Court.
In its decision issued today, the Supreme Court highlighted “the extreme severity of the defendant’s actions,” noting that she “gravely violated her duties to ensure the safety and protection of the victim and to provide necessary aid and care to prevent the victim’s death, a responsibility incumbent upon her.”
Further, the Supreme Court emphasized that the defendant, Inês Sanches, “acted with particular malice and blameworthiness, because she was the victim’s mother, the victim was particularly defenseless, and she acted in concert with the other defendants.”
Those sentenced to 25 years, in addition to Jéssica’s mother, are the child’s supposed nanny, Ana Pinto, her husband, Justo Montes, and their daughter, Esmeralda Montes.
Jéssica Biscaia passed away on June 20, 2022, hours after being returned to her mother following a five-day period in which she had been reportedly in the care of the Montes family.
During the five days under the Montes family’s care, no report was made to the authorities by Inês Sanches, and emergency services (112) were only called when Jéssica was unresponsive due to mistreatment.
Initially, Jéssica’s mother referred to Ana Pinto as her daughter’s nanny but later admitted that she had handed Jéssica over to the Montes family as security against debt related to alleged witchcraft practices.
In the verdict read by the Setúbal Court on August 1, 2023, the judge remarked that the trial was fraught with perils and that the defendants failed to reveal the circumstances leading to the child’s death: “Those present refused to disclose what transpired, and the few statements made were false.” The sole “testimony” came from Jéssica, through the forensic examinations conducted post-mortem.
“Fortunately, we had the aid of science,” the judge of the Setúbal Court stated, adding that scientific inquiry determined that over a five-day period, the child suffered more than 70 blows and over 70 injections, alongside facial burns, severe hair pulling, and three major impacts to her head against a hard surface.
While at the Montes’ residence, according to the court, young Jéssica was also exposed to substances including cocaine, methadone, and paracetamol.
In 2019, the National Commission for the Promotion of Rights and Protection of Children initiated a process aimed at promoting and protecting the girl, citing “a familial environment that could jeopardize her well-being and development.”
However, the protective measure decided upon was rejected by Jéssica’s parents, prompting the case’s transfer to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2020. After some procedures, the case was eventually closed in 2022, with the couple already separated.
[News updated at 19:21]
