The Star: November 19, 2020

The Star Thursday November 19 2020
8
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
No means no: Tinder rapist
A Christchurch woman raped by her Tinder date
has spoken out about her ordeal in a bid to
prevent others becoming victims. Her attacker
refuses to acknowledge his crime – still claiming
after a year in prison that he “misread” her body
language and did not realise her cries of “no”
actually meant no. The Parole Board says this
makes him a danger to women everywhere.
Anna Leask reports
A CHRISTCHURCH-based
Brazilian man who raped his
Tinder date – claiming he didn’t
realise her repeated cries of “no”
were a signal for him to stop –
will stay in prison because he is
a danger to other women both in
New Zealand and overseas.
Fernando Do Nascimento
Barbosa (right) continues to
justify his attack, claiming he
“misread” the situation and New
Zealand culture.
But his victim has spoken out
saying he knew exactly what he
was doing - and she wants other
women both here and overseas to
know his name and face so they
are not harmed when he is eventually
and inevitably released.
“I don’t think he is a safe
person to be released – he just
doesn’t care,” she explained.
“He’s not done any work to
show that he is rehabilitated and
he still doesn’t think he’s done
anything wrong.
In late 2018, Barbosa was living
in Christchurch and matched
with a woman on Tinder – an
online dating application that allows
users to anonymously swipe
to “like” or “dislike” others based
on their photos.
They messaged for a while, got
to know each other and made
arrangements to meet at a city
shopping centre.
Barbosa then invited the woman
to come to his home, telling
her he had been doing some
gardening work and wanted to
show her.
She agreed to go, feeling comfortable
given the pair had been
communicating for a while.
When they got to his house
Barbosa led the woman to his
bedroom and according to the
police summary of facts presented
to the court, he “made a
move on the victim.”
“The victim pushed him away
and said ‘no’,” the summary said.
“[Barbosa] asked the victim if
she wanted sex and she replied
‘no’.
“He asked for a reason why she
didn’t want to, to which the victim
said she just didn’t want to.
“The defendant told her to
remove her clothing and when
she didn’t he removed the
victim’s clothing from her.”
Barbosa then forced himself
on her and told her “what he was
doing was okay”.
“The victim began pushing the
defendant back saying to him
‘no, no, no’,” police said.
Barbosa only stopped when
he saw the woman – struggling
to get away from him from the
outset – was crying.
He asked the victim why she
was crying and she told him
again that she didn’t want to
have sex with him.
Barbosa offered to drive her
home but the shaken woman
refused and called a friend to
pick her up.
When spoken to by police,
Barbosa admitted “having sex”
with the victim but claimed he
“immediately stopped” when he
heard her protests.
Christchurch
Hospital’s
Emergency
Department
is on the move.
From 7.30am on
Wednesday 18 November,
if you need emergency
hospital care, you’ll need
to come to the new
Emergency Department
in Waipapa – Christchurch
Hospital, Hagley.
Entry to the Emergency Department drop off
area is off Riccarton Ave.
Turn left in front of Christchurch Women’s
Hospital for drop off and accessible parking
in front of the new building.
Please keep the
Emergency Department
for emergencies.