Brazil's first homeschooling criminal case: São Paulo court sentences parents to 50 days for 'intellectual neglect'

A São Paulo criminal court sentenced Audato and Ieda Denardi to 50 days in prison in April for "intellectual neglect," finding the couple guilty of educating their daughters, aged 15 and 11, outside a state-approved curriculum. The ruling, believed to be the first criminal prosecution of its kind in Brazil, came over the objections of the state's own prosecutors. Alliance Defending Freedom International, which is providing legal support for the family, says the Denardis are appealing.

What the court found

The court faulted the Denardis on two counts. Their homeschool curriculum omitted programs on "gender and sex education" and "tolerance and diversity," per ADF International. The judge also cited the older daughter's preference for sacred and classical music over trap or "sertanejo" folk music as evidence the parents had failed to integrate the girls into Brazilian culture.

Defense attorney Isabel Monteiro said the judge made "an ideological decision to convict them," with the teenager's musical taste carrying significant weight in the verdict. The Denardis began homeschooling in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. They formally withdrew the girls from school in 2022, after which state officials conducted home visits and pressed for re-enrollment.

Prosecution and evidence both favored the family

An independent educational psychologist, retained for the case, concluded the girls showed no signs of neglect and were thriving socially and academically. The state's own prosecutors recommended acquittal on that basis. The Denardis also submitted more than 3,000 pages of evidence. The judge set all of it aside, accusing the parents of "using their daughters as pawns in an ideological struggle" by excluding state oversight from a form of education that lacked adequate metrics under Brazilian law.

Audato told Fox News Digital the girls are accomplished pianists who speak multiple languages. His most immediate concern is guardianship during a 50-day sentence. "That is our biggest problem in all this stuff, because we're going to have to stay 50 days without them and who's going to stay with them?" he said.

What to watch: the appeal and the legislative gap

The family remains free pending a hearing before the 7th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo. The case sits inside a regulatory vacuum that Brazil's legislature has not closed. The nation's Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that homeschooling was not unconstitutional but required legislative regulation. Brazil's House of Representatives passed a regulatory framework in 2022. The Senate has not acted on it.

Audato told Fox News Digital the family is waiting for "real justice," arguing the state cannot change law on the basis of ideology.