![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3914765de7ae3cc1131f0e445db44a871b3a95da.jpeg\")
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Stephen and Jo Silvagni outside court after their son was found guilty.Credit: Joe Armao<\/p>\n
The gag order was lifted on Thursday after County Court judge Andrew Palmer noted Tom Silvagni\u2019s name had become common knowledge despite the suppression order.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my own experience, people talking to me about it, who don\u2019t know I\u2019m in any way involved in the case, have known the identity of this person. These are outside legal circles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silvagni\u2019s lawyers pressed for the order to continue because of their client\u2019s mental ill health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just a concern about his own name; it\u2019s about how that impacts on his family,\u201d Hallowes said.<\/p>\n
But Palmer said: \u201cAt some point he will have to reconcile with the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The order prohibiting publication of Silvagni\u2019s name, and any personal information about him or his family that might cause him to be identified, was first granted in June 2024.<\/p>\n
It was then extended in the County Court, with Palmer saying it was necessary to protect the administration of justice because Silvagni\u2019s legal team had argued their client was so concerned about his family being embroiled in the case that it was impacting his mental health and ability to properly instruct his lawyers.<\/p>\n
The details surrounding how and why the gag order was made were also banned from being published. Lawyers representing several media outlets, including this masthead, fought over months and in multiple courts to have the order lifted, at one stage winning an application to have the ban lifted only for it to be overturned in the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Breaches of a suppression order can incur fines and even jail time.<\/p>\n
Silvagni was supported by his parents and girlfriend in court during the trial. Family and friends cried and shook their heads when the guilty verdicts were read out.<\/p>\n
Jurors were told that the victim visited the Silvagni family home while Silvagni\u2019s parents were away, at the invitation of his girlfriend on January 13, 2024.<\/p>\n
![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/93b745f3e599a44a91f7e0fc91207b6ce183227f.jpeg\")
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Stephen and Jo Silvagni leave court after the verdict.Credit: Joe Armao<\/p>\n
Present at the gathering were Silvagni, his girlfriend, their male friend and the victim.<\/p>\n
When the four went to bed, Silvagni and his girlfriend went to one bedroom, and the victim and the friend another. The victim had consensual sex with Silvagni\u2019s friend, who left her in the bedroom, called an Uber and left just after 2am.<\/p>\n
Silvagni then entered the victim\u2019s room, where he pretended to be his friend, saying the Uber ride was cancelled and he was unable to get another one.<\/p>\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ebeacfb9e45e751acccfecf0eec4dbc760d19bd3.jpeg\")
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Tom Silvagni on November 27.<\/p>\n
He then raped the woman twice, despite her telling Silvagni to stop and that she suspected it was him.<\/p>\n
The jury was told Silvagni tried to cover up his crime, obtaining a copy of his friend\u2019s Uber receipt and altering the time of the journey to suggest the friend did not leave until 2.37am.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to make sure [her] lies don\u2019t f— us up,\u201d Silvagni wrote in a text message to his friend.<\/p>\n
He later told the victim during a taped phone call that it would be better if she would just \u201cmove on with her life\u201d.<\/p>\n
During the trial, Silvagni told the jury he never went into the victim\u2019s bedroom and he had doctored the Uber receipt to \u201calleviate a bit of the stress\u201d for him and his girlfriend.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0f1148f29f665d94c23b6379d8e98de07379ac61.jpeg\")
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The Silvagnis outside court.Credit: Joe Armao<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, looking back, I didn\u2019t need to do it and it was stupid, but it was just to alleviate the stress … because the allegations were so far-fetched and that\u2019s just what I did, because I thought it was the right thing to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was stressed, panicked. I\u2019ve never had someone accuse me of this before, so I was stressed for myself but also for my relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/8dc20fd1f6ddcc52518d4c8a418f00fb8c69511d.jpeg\")
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Tom Silvagni in 2024.Credit: Nine News<\/p>\n
Silvagni, who was taken into custody on the return of the jury\u2019s verdicts, will be sentenced at a later date. The maximum term for rape is 25 years, with an average of seven to 10 years.<\/p>\n
Support is available from the National Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) and Victims of Crime Helpline (1800 819 817).<\/p>\n