Inside the lavish $2,200-a-week mansion where the Silvagnis are laying low in Melbourne – as they plan their bid to free their rapist son from his six-year jail sentence
The Silvagni clan are plotting the desperate legal appeal for their rapist son while shacked up in a spectacular rental mansion owned by a lawyer.
Daily Mail can reveal former AFL great Stephen Silvagni and former TV star wife Jo are holed-up in a multimillion-dollar property in Melbourne‘s Balwyn North.
It is a stone’s throw away from their old sprawling mansion which they sold last year after son Tom was charged with repeatedly raping his former friend’s girlfriend there.
He was convicted last week after a lengthy trial held under a strict court-imposed reporting blackout and is now serving a six year jail sentence.
Media tracked down the Silvagnis’ temporary home after Tom’s girlfriend, model Alannah Iaconis, was seen arriving there.
Silvagni’s older brother and AFL star, Jack, arrived later at the house and told reporters that Ms Iaconis would not be coming out.
‘She knows you’re here… and she’s not going to say anything to you guys,’ the new St Kilda recruit said.
‘The family [are] doing it hard.’
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Jo Silvagni takes out the trash outside a home owned by a Melbourne lawyer
When asked by Daily Mail whether Ms Iaconis’ presence meant that she still supports Tom, Jack said it wasn’t for him to comment on.
‘That’s for you guys to work out, but yeah. I mean, it’s Saturday arvo, you guys don’t want to be here, we don’t want you here. They’re not going to come out,’ he said.
‘You guys do what you got to do, but from our perspective if you guys could move on that would be great.
‘We’re just still trying to rally together. I get you guys have got a job to do.’
Ms Iaconis has stood by her boyfriend since the accusations first came to light over a year ago and even took the stand in his defence.
She has maintained her public silence on Silvagni and the trial, and no evidence of their relationship is featured on her social media.
It is understood the Silvagni family rented the property mid-last year to remain in Melbourne and support Tom during the long legal process.
Sources maintain the Silvagni family moved interstate to Queensland in the wake of their son being charged, but will continue to return to Victoria as and when required.
The rental is a $2200-a-week home that spruiks a stunning pool, kitchen and marble bathrooms.
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The Silvagnis continue to live in style while living in a rental property
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The stunning Balwyn North home occupied by the Silvagni clan
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Jo Silvagni has been the face of Chemist Warehouse for years
On Tuesday, dressed in a red Jaggad-branded windcheater – a brand owned by fellow former WAG Bec Judd – and wearing black leggings and runners, Jo appeared unfazed as she took out the rubbish bins there.
Tom Silvagni, 23, was found guilty of two counts of rape and ordered to serve a minimum three years and three months in jail before he would be eligible for parole.
After his sentence on December 17, his mother caused a stir when she was caught on camera lashing out at a TV reporter outside court.
As she and her husband left the court, she shrugged off media questions, saying ‘go away’ and pushing one female TV reporter, saying, ‘Do your job!’.
The couple had already infuriated Australians with their unbridled support for their rapist son both during and after a pre-sentence hearing in early December.
They had been notably absent from the courtroom as their son’s victim delivered an emotional victim impact statement.
Whether they watched the young woman’s delivery on a videolink from a nearby room remains unclear.
But when Jo finally entered the courtroom, just as the woman finished her powerful statement to the court, the mother appeared to glare at her son’s rape victim.
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Tom Silvagni will spend Christmas behind bars
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Stephen Silvagni angered some Australians with his pledge to push for an appeal over his son’s rape conviction
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Jo Silvagni lashed out at a pursuing reporter (far right) following their son’s sentence
Walking to the front of the court and taking a seat about two metres away from the young woman, Jo stared at her.
Jo had joined her husband outside court shortly after that pre-sentence hearing to support his calls for an appeal against their son’s conviction.
‘Jo and I, together with our family members and friends, are so disappointed with the outcome,’ Stephen Silvagni said before breaking down in tears.
With his wife’s arm around him, he continued to question the credibility of the victim.
‘We all love and support our son Tom. Our son continues to maintain his innocence and we stand firmly behind him,’ he said.
Backlash against Jo has broken out online, where angry Aussies, many of them women, have declared they will be boycotting Chemist Warehouse and ‘shopping elsewhere’ until the association ends.
While Jo was not convicted of any crime and bears no responsibility for her son’s criminal actions, the family’s claims of Tom’s innocence and their intention to appeal did not sit well with some Australians.
