Police in Rio de Janeiro are investigating sexual assault allegations from two former female students against Bruno Leonardo Reis de Souza, 42, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt known as Bruno Formiga.
He runs Escola Bruno Formiga de Jiu-Jítsu in Tijuca, and the cases remain under judicial confidentiality.
The older complainant, now 26, told authorities that Formiga used training techniques and immobilizations to make unwanted physical contact.
She also alleges that he assaulted her after she became intoxicated during a May 2025 team trip to São Paulo, and that he bought her emergency contraception the next day.
The second complainant went public in late August 2026, at age 17, about incidents from when she was 16.
Both say their objections were dismissed as misunderstandings or humor, and that they faced obstacles to continuing at the academy afterwards.
The younger complainant also accuses Cauã Magalhães Amaral, an athlete tied to the academy, of assaulting her twice: in December 2025, and during a January 2026 tournament trip to Portugal.
Her father told police he allowed the trip only after Formiga promised separate sleeping arrangements for male and female team members. Her parents filed a complaint in early February 2026.
In April 2026, Judge João Zacharias de Sá granted her protective measures against both men under Brazil’s Henry Borel Law.
The judge wrote:
This is a measure of strictly protective scope which, from a certain perspective, also benefits the respondents themselves, by eliminating any possibility of contact that could be interpreted as a new attempt at influence, pressure or intimidation against the teenager, safeguarding her position during the investigation.
Defense attorney Pedro Santiago, who represents both men, denies all allegations.
He says the complainants have disclosed only parts of a confidential investigation while withholding evidence and witness testimony that supports his clients.
He also disputes that Amaral is an instructor and says his relationship with the teenager was consensual.
Neither man has been indicted by police or charged by prosecutors, and the investigation remains under seal.
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