The son of AFL great Stephen Silvagni can now be identified as the man from a high-profile Melbourne family who was last week found guilty of rape.
Tom Silvagni’s identity had been suppressed throughout his rape trial, but the order was lifted on Thursday by county court judge Andrew Palmer.
Tom Silvagni, the youngest son of Stephen, was convicted on 5 December of two counts of rape.
He had denied he digitally raped his friend’s girlfriend at his Melbourne home in the early hours of 14 January 2024.
The jury was told the woman had consensual sex with her boyfriend at the house but then the man organised an Uber and left the property shortly before 2am.
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Silvagni then lied, telling the woman her boyfriend would be returning upstairs because his Uber had been cancelled.
But it was Silvagni who went into the dark bedroom a short time later and pretended to be the woman’s boyfriend before digitally raping her twice.
In the days after, he doctored an Uber receipt to make it look like the victim’s boyfriend had left the house after 2.30am.
Silvagni was first charged with rape in June 2024 but his lawyers successfully sought to have his case suppressed in the magistrates court.
He was ordered to stand trial in February 2025 following a committal hearing and his defence once again applied for the suppression to continue.
A county court judge overturned the suppression in May, but Silvagni’s lawyers quickly appealed the decision to the supreme court.
The justice ruled in his favour in August and Silvagni’s identity was suppressed for his two-week trial in late November.
Media were also prohibited from publishing any information that could identify the Silvagni family, including any references to the AFL.
Silvagni, who worked as an AFL player agent at Kapital Sports Group, is the brother of St Kilda player Jack and former VFL player Ben.
His father, Stephen, is a two-time premiership player for the Carlton football club and was inducted into both the AFL and Carlton hall of fame.
His mother, Jo Silvagni, is a well-known Australian television personality.
His grandfather, Sergio Silvagni, was also a well-known Carlton player.
Tom Silvagni will face a pre-sentence hearing on Friday.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html