A mother and father in Brazil have been sentenced to prison for “intellectual neglect” after homeschooling their two daughters, aged 11 and 15.
Adauto José and Ieda Cristina Denardi began homeschooling their daughters in 2020 during the pandemic, after taking issue with some of the aspects of remote learning and observing the shortcomings in the public system.
The couple provided a curriculum that included mathematics, science, English, Latin, piano, music theory, and extensive reading, with the oldest of the two girls reading an average of 20 to 30 books every year.
An independent psychologist’s report and academic records supported the children’s development, and the prosecutor recommended acquittal.
But that wasn’t good enough, according to a local judge who sentenced the couple to 50 days in semi-open detention in April, claiming the children had been intellectually neglected.
The judge ruled that the homeschooling lacked state-approved content on gender, sex education, tolerance, and diversity.
The sentencing also cited the girls’ limited exposure to popular Brazilian music genres such as funk, trap, and sertanejo as evidence of cultural isolation.
In his decision, the judge explicitly accused the parents of “using their daughters as pawns in an ideological struggle, subjecting them to a form of unregulated education, the effectiveness and quality of which lack adequate metrics within the Brazilian legal system, while completely excluding the State’s involvement.”
This case marks the first criminal conviction of parents for homeschooling their children.
The sentence has been suspended pending appeal to the São Paulo State Court of Justice. While the appeal proceeds, the family must comply with certain conditions, including school enrollment for the children, community service, and regular court check-ins.
Advocacy groups such as ADF International are supporting the family, arguing the ruling infringes on parental rights.
Ieda Denardi told ADF, “As a mother, I cannot conceive a more dictatorial state than the one that wants me in jail because I chose to exercise my right to direct the education and upbringing of my daughters.
“My husband and I are hopeful the court will recognise our right to choose the best education for our children and overturn this unjust conviction."
Julio Pohl, Legal Counsel for Latin America at ADF International, said: “The prosecutor examined the witnesses and recommended for acquittal. An independent educational psychologist found no sign of neglect. The girls themselves described rigorous daily education.
“The judge convicted anyway – because a fifteen-year-old said she finds some music lyrics morally questionable, and because the curriculum didn’t include state-approved content on gender.
“A parent has been sentenced to prison not for failing to educate her children, but for educating them according to her own values. This is a grotesque abuse of the criminal law, and we will not let it stand.”
ADF International notes that there are over 70,000 children currently being homeschooled in Brazil.
And all homeschooling parents today have reason to wonder whether some activist judge—more interested in imposing ideological convictions on other people’s children than defending the rights of parents—might one day decide to intervene in their home, remove their children, or criminalise them for raising them according to their own beliefs.
This is the hill on which we die. Nothing is more precious than our children, and nothing is more fundamental than the freedom to raise them according to our convictions rather than the dictates of an intrusive state.
That is why we must recover the Christian doctrine of sphere sovereignty. God has established distinct spheres of authority—family, church, and state—each with its own God-given responsibilities and limits. None is sovereign over the others. When one sphere usurps the authority of another, fundamental liberties are violated.
Without Christ as the supreme authority over every sphere, the state inevitably seeks to become supreme itself. Armed with a monopoly on coercive force, it steadily absorbs the responsibilities of the family, subordinates the church, and extends its control into virtually every area of life.
What begins as government overreach ends with the state claiming ultimate authority over institutions God never entrusted to it, like imprisoning parents for failing to indoctrinate their kids with the “progressive” religion of the state.
Praying for this precious family