Medical student Stephanie Cohen, 30, has been living for a year with a trauma she received from millionaire Thiago Brennand, whom she accuses of rape. But only now, after the businessman was arrested on Thursday (13) by the Federal Police and Interpol in the United Arab Emirates, he decided to show his face and solve the crime of which he became a victim.

“You can’t say that Stephanie is the same today as she was a year ago,” she says in an interview with R7. “After what happened, I crawled into bed.”

Thiago Brennan received a new arrest warrant after posting bail in the United Arab Emirates – Photo: Reproduction/Internet/ND

The day after his arrest in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Brennand became a defendant in a new complaint filed on Friday by the Sao Paulo Ministry of Public Administration (14). A businessman charged with bodily harm and molestation of minors for assaulting model Helena Gomez at a luxury gym in Sao Paulo has received a new pre-trial detention order.

According to the prosecutor’s office of Porto Feliz, in the hinterland of São Paulo, the city where the defendant lived before leaving Brazil, Brennand committed five offenses of rape, false imprisonment, torture, very serious bodily harm, coercion during the trial, illegal embarrassment three times, threats four times, in addition to unauthorized recording of sexual intimacy and disclosure of rape or sex scenes eight times.

Last October, Stephanie recalls meeting a businessman at a restaurant in São Paulo. “I was late, but everyone knew I was Miss Sao Paulo,” she recalls. “He came up to me, asked if I needed anything that I do for a living, said that his family had hospitals,” he says. The student later claims to have found her social media profile. “He was respectful and considerate. There were family photos on his Instagram, nothing that caught my attention.”

A week later, Brennand invited her to dinner. At the restaurant, Stephanie recalls, he ordered two caipirinhas and a meal. A few moments after taking the drink, the student reports that she has become ill. “He turned out to be a regular customer of the restaurant, ordered drinks and food. But then I started to feel bad and disoriented.” Realizing that Stephanie was not feeling well, Brennand would offer to help and take her to a hotel.

In the hotel, according to Stephanie, there was a rape. “I arrived the next day with a bite in my arm, near my shoulder,” he says. “I was in a lot of pain, I managed to make an appointment with a gynecologist on Monday and, according to examinations, I had small cracks in my intimate places and anal fissures. The ointment had to be used for 10 days. It was the worst physical consequence of all. My whole intimate area was very damaged.”

In addition to the rape, Stephanie claims that Brennad videotaped her without permission during the crime. “Unfortunately, I only remember the worst part, I remember him filming the video. He kept trying to force it and I said no. But he insisted. This drove me to despair. He forced anal relations.”

The next day, according to Stephanie, Brennand sent the video via WhatsApp. “He sent me a video, but I could only watch it until I saw my face,” she says. The student also claims that Brennand wanted to take her to the farm the next day, but she managed to escape by forcing the businessman’s security guard to leave. “He knew that if the video of me was leaked, it would be the end of my life.”

Following the outcry of the case and the testimony of model Helena Gomes, the victim of Brennand’s physical abuse at the gym, Stephanie said she had decided to reveal the details of the rape. Before that, even the student’s family did not know that she was a victim of a businessman. “I came home, told my mother and asked not to disclose the medical secret. I had a psychological follow-up and only told my closest friends about it.”

Stephanie says that the gynecologist who accompanied her contacted the coordinator of the medical course at the college where she studied to explain the reason for the absence of a student. Everything, however, is a secret. “I had to take tests with a certificate. The college should have given me a chance to take my exams again.”

The student started talking about the crime recently. “I was just beginning to realize that I needed to bring this up when it all came out. I now understand that talking about it is part of my healing process,” she says, who left home to live in a sheltered place. “He was in prison, now is the time to show himself as a sexual victim. I thought it would cause new complaints and new victims.”

Brennand’s violence interrupted Stephanie’s life in various ways. “I was very happy that I won Miss Sao Paulo,” he recalls. “But after the rape, my first feeling was that I became very disgusted with my own body, I was repelled, I wanted to vomit. I believed what he said that my body was ugly, that I was flabby. I stayed at that stage and only got better this year.”

In February, Stephanie remembers that she was to compete outside of Brazil, which gave her the courage to continue despite the insults. “I was supposed to represent São Paulo in the competition, and whether I like it or not, no matter how sure I was, I had to continue. He’s already done a lot of damage. I was very shocked, but it had a purpose.”

Gradually, Stephanie returned to her routine, but some moments are not the same. “My relationships with men have never been the same. I’m afraid that someone will approach me who might do something against me.” Also, whenever she watches the news about Brennand, Stephanie experiences the sexual assault again. “You think you’re getting better, but seeing his face on TV, that wound comes to the surface. I couldn’t see his face anymore without doing anything.”

So, after seeing the testimony of Helena Gomes, Stephanie decided to speak up. Then, upon learning of Brennand’s arrest, he decided to show his face. “I reproached myself for a long time for not talking about it, I could not sleep. But now I’m trying to inspire other people by thinking about giving medicine. If everyone talks, he can be knocked down.”

The student believes that Brennand’s return to Brazil and punishment is now a matter of time. “I didn’t talk about it to anyone, I just cried. But I didn’t want to be a victim who just cries all the time, it’s not because he’s rich, we have to endure this for the rest of our days,” he says. “I know that there are many victims who think that there will be no justice, that he will be released. But it’s time to judge in order to change.”