Paraguayan justice has imposed the most severe sentence ever recorded in the country for a case of psychological violence carried out through digital means, sentencing a man to 10 years in prison for harassing his former partner while he was incarcerated. The ruling, considered a landmark in the fight against digital violence, was delivered after a trial that proved a prolonged pattern of threats and intimidation.
Prosecutor María Eusebia Segovia Cabrera, head of the Specialized Unit for Combating Family and Gender Violence No. 4 in Asunción, secured the conviction for aggravated domestic violence. The Public Prosecutor's Office demonstrated that the defendant subjected the victim, the mother of his three children, to death threats and psychological pressure through phone calls, text messages, audio, and video over a period of one year and ten months, all while serving a sentence in different prisons.
The Sentencing Court, presided over by Judge Olga Ruíz and including magistrates Mario García and Celia Salinas, considered a robust body of evidence, including digital evidence, documents, and a psychological report that used the international SARA risk assessment tool, which indicated a moderate level of danger. The convicted man already had a prior record for violence against the same woman, with previous sentences in 2023 and 2018.
Unanimously, the court applied a sentence of 10 years in prison plus two years of security measures. The case sets a significant precedent, reflecting the growing recognition by Paraguayan justice of the seriousness of gender-based violence perpetrated through technological means.