Influencer Hytalo Santos detailed in deposition his monthly earnings of 400 to 600 thousand reais from advertising and raffles, while defending against charges of sexual exploitation and child pornography. He denied producing sexualized content, stating the videos depicted periphery daily life and brega funk. Santos cried while lamenting being seen as a pedophile due to the allegations.
Hytalo Santos and his husband, Israel Vicente, known as Euro, have been imprisoned since August at Penitenciária Desembargador Flósculo da Nóbrega in João Pessoa, Paraíba, following allegations of producing and disseminating videos with teenagers. The case gained attention when influencer Felca criticized the sexualization of minors online, prompting GAECO to seek the couple's arrest in São Paulo, from where they were transferred to Paraíba. The court denied their release request.
In deposition excerpts aired on the Fantástico program on Sunday (30/11), Hytalo revealed his earnings varied between 400 and 600 thousand reais per month, from advertising and authorized raffles, without payments from video platforms. He stated he did not monitor the thousands of comments on posts, which reached 20,000 or 30,000, and that most focused on the 'strength of each character'.
Questioned on remuneration, Hytalo said he helped the teenagers' parents voluntarily, without formal agreements: 'The parents were, but not by obligation, not by arrangement, I felt entitled to do for them'. He denied any sexual connotation in the videos, describing them as cultural representations of periphery life between Recife and João Pessoa: 'I never recorded videos with pornographic scenes or sexual intent… for us from the periphery, it's art'.
The Public Prosecutor's Office maintains that teenagers lived with the couple in a condominium in Bayeux, in Greater João Pessoa, and that the content constituted exploitation. In addition to the criminal case for human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and child pornography, they face a Labor Public Prosecutor's action for trafficking for sexual exploitation and subjecting minors to degrading conditions.
Emotional, Hytalo cried while discussing the impact: 'I will never be free again from what they did to my image. Wherever I go now, I am seen as a pedophile, seen as an abuser, as a perverted person'. The defense argues the videos may be sensual but not pornographic: 'They can be seen as sensual, but the law does not criminalize the sensual act… And pornography is not demonstrated', said lawyer Sean Kombier Abib.
