Melqui Galvao

Melqui Galvão holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and stands as a key figure within Alliance in Amazonas, Brazil. Operating out of the Amazon region, he built his public profile at the intersection of the local BJJ community and law enforcement, serving as a personal defense (defesa pessoal) instructor with the Amazonas Civil Police. That dual standing — credentialed martial arts instructor and active police officer — placed him in a position of considerable authority within the communities he worked in, a dynamic that investigators would later argue was central to the crimes alleged against him.

Beyond his police role, Galvão founded a social project providing free Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training to children from impoverished communities across the Amazon region. The program earned widespread local recognition, reportedly producing world champions and drawing public praise as evidence of jiu-jitsu's capacity to transform young lives in one of Brazil's most underserved areas. For years, the project cast Galvão as a respected community figure — a coach who had opened the sport to children who otherwise could not afford it.

Investigators subsequently alleged that the project served an entirely different purpose: that it functioned as a vehicle for the systematic sexual abuse of minors, with Galvão's authority as coach and police officer used to control and silence victims over an extended period.

Victims' Accounts

As of 2026, nine women had filed police reports against Galvão. The youngest to make a public statement said she was twelve years old when the abuse began. One former student described the arrangement with stark clarity: "He came to me and said it wasn't free, that I would have to pay, and I paid in the worst possible way." She added: "I'm making this video for my sister. He abused my sister, too. He raped her, too. Just like he did to me."

Victims identified his combined role as coach and law enforcement officer as the mechanism of coercion. One woman recounted that at age twelve, Galvão told her: "If you report me, I'll know, because I'm a police officer." She remained silent for approximately fourteen years, from around 2012 until 2026.

The Rome Incident

In February 2026, a 17-year-old athlete traveling with Galvão in Rome reported waking to find his hand beneath her shirt. In an audio recording provided by her family, Galvão addressed the incident directly: "I touched her stomach. I touched it quickly. I thought she was sleeping for about 3 seconds, maybe at most. I deeply regret that. I deeply regret having done that." He then allegedly attempted to negotiate her silence while placing responsibility on the young woman herself.

Arrest and Witness Interference

Galvão was arrested on April 28, 2026, and subsequently transferred approximately 2,000 kilometers south to a prison in São Paulo's northern zone. Investigators alleged that his brother Enoque, also a civil police officer, obtained a cell phone for Galvão shortly after the initial arrest. Galvão allegedly used that phone to pressure witnesses, directing one to "say that him and [one of the victims] made everything up" and instructing the same witness: "We need something intimate to show the judge she's not an innocent girl." A second phone was seized on June 25, 2026, during a raid on a different facility, and a court ordered his continued detention on grounds of witness interference. Enoque Galvão was arrested on May 26, 2026, on charges involving two girls from the same social project.

Prior Tragedy

The case drew additional scrutiny to a prior event: in 2007, Galvão's first wife died outside her home and in front of her daughter, one year after she had allegedly gone to a police station with a handwritten note documenting threats he had made against her. No one has ever been charged in connection with her death.

House Arrest Request and Ongoing Proceedings

Galvão's defense filed a request around July 13, 2026, for transfer from prison to house arrest, citing a shoulder surgery performed in approximately late June 2026 at a hospital in São Paulo's city center. The defense submitted a medical report arguing that Galvão required a minimum of thirty physiotherapy sessions at a frequency of five to seven days per week — treatment that, the defense contended, could not be adequately provided within the prison facility.

Several countervailing details emerged during court proceedings. Prison management responded that the necessary physiotherapy could be administered inside the facility. Documents submitted by the attorney for the reporting athlete revealed that the clinic proposed for Galvão's treatment shared the exact same address as "Galvão Saúde e Performance," a company based in Jundiaí, in the interior of São Paulo state, co-owned by Galvão and his wife. Court documents also included photographs suggesting a close personal relationship between the proposed physiotherapist and Galvão's family. The São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office initially supported the house arrest proposal — a stance that drew scrutiny given the conflicts of interest surrounding the proposed treatment arrangement. A court ruling on the defense request was expected in the days following July 18, 2026.

Galvão's first criminal hearing is scheduled for October 20, 2026.