Appeals Court Confirms Conviction with Reduced Sentence
The Court of Criminal Cassation of Buenos Aires Province has confirmed the conviction of Claudio Contardi for repeated and aggravated sexual abuse against his former partner, model Julieta Prandi. The panel reduced his prison term from 19 years to 18 years and six months. Judges Manuel Alberto Bouchoux and María Florencia Budiño rejected most of the defense's arguments, including claims that Contardi's right to a jury trial was violated, that he lacked effective legal representation due to multiple lawyer changes, that the evidence was insufficient, and that the facts were imprecisely described. The court found that Contardi had validly chosen to be tried by a technical tribunal and could not revisit that decision after the trial had proceeded under that format.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
The defense appeal, filed in August of last year by attorney Fernando Sicilia, also sought house arrest for Contardi, which was denied. The court upheld the conviction, the legal classification of the offenses, and the detention order. The only point on which the defense succeeded was the exclusion of one aggravating factor used to set the sentence: the reference to the attitude assumed by the defendant after the fact and his characteristics, which the court found was insufficiently justified. The rest of the sentence, including the aggravating factor for gender-based violence, remained intact.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
Evidence and Testimony Behind the Ruling
The court found that Prandi's account was coherent and supported by statements from family members, friends, coworkers, and health professionals. It also determined that the abuses caused severe damage to her mental health, with symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances, requiring psychological and psychiatric treatment. The judges noted that the conviction was not based solely on Prandi's testimony but on a combination of witness statements, expert reports, and other evidence that reconstructed the relationship and the context in which the events occurred.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
The abuses were found to have occurred repeatedly between July 2015 and March 2018, during the marriage. The court rejected the defense's argument that the exact dates and times of each episode had not been specified, stating that it was unreasonable to demand an exact reconstruction of every assault and that marriage does not imply sexual consent. The judges also dismissed challenges to the aggravating factor for severe mental harm, citing professional testimony and official expert reports that established the psychological impact and its link to the reported events.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
Background of the Case
Prandi and Contardi were married in 2011 and separated in 2019. Prandi filed her complaint on October 13, 2021, at the Women and Family Police Station in Martínez, for events that occurred between July 28, 2015, and March 2018. On April 13, 2022, she testified again, ratifying her complaint and providing a detailed account of the repeated sexual abuse she suffered from her then-partner. The trial spanned three hearings and included testimony from experts, Prandi's psychologist and psychiatrist, as well as friends and family who described her physical and emotional deterioration. Throughout the proceedings, Prandi asked not to cross paths with her ex-husband, and a screen separated them when they had to share the courtroom.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
According to the 24-page ruling from the Oral Criminal Court No. 2 of Campana, the abuses were committed in a context of violence and through meticulous work aimed at undermining the victim's personality. This systematic effort was evidenced by actions to isolate Prandi from her social circle and create conflicts, using excuses of protection and security to change her phone every six months and hinder contact with family and friends. Contardi was convicted on August 13, 2025, and that sentence has now been confirmed by a higher court.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
