‘The State failed’, admits mayor of Viamão about US missionary arrested for beating 3-year-old son

US missionary is arrested in RS after confessing to beating his 3-year-old son The mayor of Viamão, Rafael Bortoletti (PSDB), admitted that the municipality was at fault in the case of the religious missionary from the United States who had pre-trial detention ordered after confessing to having beaten his own 3-year-old son. “I have said it since the first day I found out about this case: the State failed,” said Bortoletti, in an interview with Rádio Gaúcha. ? Access the g1 RS channel on WhatsApp He states that, still in November 2025, a health unit in the municipality identified bruises on the child and reported it to the assistance network, made up of the departments of Education, Health and Social Development. The family began to be monitored at that time, with the participation of the Guardianship Council. "I, as mayor, the police, we all failed. A 3-year-old child can never reach this stage. I take responsibility as mayor for this. I do not take away my obligation to reorganize my network system", he declared. Since November last year, seven meetings of the Specialized Reference Center for Social Assistance (CREAS) have been held with this family. The mayor reports that the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) recommends institutional shelter strictly as the last stage, or exceptional measure of protection. "The system failed. Regardless of what SUAS recommends, we cannot allow a 3-year-old child, who has had three moments when some type of aggression, some type of mark, some type of violence has been identified", he said. According to Bortoletti, there is a record from January this year in which the boy had broken his arm. According to him, the justification at the time would have been that the child was injured while playing on the sofa at home. The couple has five children in total. According to Bortoletti, the other children are in a shelter. The mayor would have had access to one of the reports issued by the assistance network that recorded, in December, a significant facial injury to the eldest son, aged 9. "It's the first step that makes me understand that there was a failure in our system. I should have been notified immediately. Our psychologists have to create links with families, but other bodies have a duty, and one of them is our Guardianship Council, to call the police, to investigate, to call the Public Prosecutor's Office", he points out. According to the assistance team's agenda, a decisive meeting with the family was scheduled for this Thursday (9), where a decision would be made to identify whether it would be a case of shelter. In other words, taking children away from their father. "For me, our biggest failure was not understanding the gravity and speed of the state's response. We put ourselves at risk. And that is my self-criticism as mayor, as a human being." Bortoletti also states that there are records of attacks in cities where the family previously lived, before moving to Viamão. "Let's look for their history, because they lived in five cities since the birth of their first child. In my opinion, they fled when the public service tightened its grip. They fled anyway", he supposes. The mayor ordered the opening of an inquiry to investigate the facts and identify possible responsibilities. Missionary confessed to assault for not hearing 'good morning' A 33-year-old man, a religious missionary from the United States, had preventive detention ordered this Monday (6) after confessing to having beaten his own three-year-old son, in Viamão, in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre. According to the Civil Police, the father claimed that he committed the attacks because the child did not say "good morning" to him. The boy is hospitalized in a very serious condition in the pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Hospital de Pronto Socorro (HPS), in the capital. According to the police, the case happened on Sunday morning (5), at the family's residence, located in the rural area of ??Águas Claras. According to delegate Luana Tamiozzo Medeiros, deputy at the Police Station Specialized in Women's Assistance (Deam) and responsible for the investigation, the man reported having punched the child's chest and abdomen, in addition to hitting the boy's head against the floor. The victim's mother was in another room of the house and did not witness the act. After the attacks, the man took his injured son to the woman, and the couple took the boy to Viamão Hospital. History of violence The family has lived in Brazil for nine years and has lived in Viamão for around six months. The couple has other children, all born in Brazil. According to the Civil Police, there are signs of a context of continued family violence. The mother reported to the military police that her husband had already displayed aggressive behavior on other occasions. Delegate Luana Tamiozzo Medeiros requested protection measures based on the Henry Borel Law for the children and sent them for forensic examination, in order to investigate whether they were also victims of mistreatment. Gaucho authorities are in contact with the Federal Police, who confirmed the man's regular immigration status in the country. The police also work together with corporations from other states to determine whether there are previous records of violence or actions by the Guardianship Council involving the family in other regions of Brazil. The mother accompanies the boy admitted to HPS. North American is arrested in RS after confessing to beating his 3-year-old son for not saying 'good morning' Ronaldo Bernardi/Agência RBS VIDEOS: Everything about RS