The mother of convicted rapist Tom Silvagni has made her first public appearance since leaving his sentencing hearing in a highly emotional state.
Jo Silvagni was recently spotted outside a residence in Balwyn North, located in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. This area is notably close to the location where her son, Tom, committed multiple assaults on his former friend’s girlfriend.
Wearing a red windcheater from the Jaggad brand, co-owned by former WAG Bec Judd, Jo was seen in black leggings and running shoes. She seemed composed as she carried out household tasks, even though several men were present inside who could have assisted.
Her demeanor was a stark contrast to the tense expression she displayed upon leaving the County Court of Victoria the previous week.
The Silvagni family continues to reside in a rental property nearby, which they had sold over a year ago.
On a recent Saturday, Tom’s girlfriend, model Alannah Iaconis, visited the property, despite Tom now serving his sentence in a Melbourne prison.
The Balwyn North house sold last year by the Silvagni family was where Tom twice assaulted a young woman in January 2024 after sneaking into the guest room where she was sleeping.
He sexually assaulted her while pretending to be her boyfriend – his then-close friend Anthony LoGiudice.
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.
Jo Silvagni takes out the trash outside a home near where her rapist son committed his vile crimes
Photos taken by the Daily Mail on Saturday showed Ms Iaconis – who only last month declared she was ‘feeling grateful, inspired and more motivated than ever’ – exiting a black vehicle before waiting to be let through the security gates.
Silvagni’s older brother and AFL star, Jack, arrived later at the house and told reporters that Ms Iaconis would not be coming out.
Jo Silvagni’s TV future remains unclear in the wake of her confronting behaviour in and outside of court.
She has been the face of Chemist Warehouse for years after first appearing on TV between 1991 and 1993 as a spokesmodel alongside Glenn Ridge on Sale of the Century.
She later co-hosted Channel Nine’s lifestyle program Looking Good and has fronted TV ads for Zoot Review, speaking to Australian celebrities who spruiked products such as Cold Power, Ski yoghurt and Nurofen.
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.
Jo had sobbed in the courtroom as the guilty verdict against her son was handed down.
Jo Silvagni ventured outside to take out the rubbish bins
She picked up the cap of a construction cap and disposed of it
Just as the woman finished her powerful statement to the court, the mother appeared to stare at her son’s rape victim.
Walking to the front of the court and taking a seat about two metres away from the young woman, Jo stared at her.
Her husband Stephen is recruiting manager at St Kilda, which has also just recruited his son Jack, who has crossed from Carlton, where the Silvagni name is one of the club’s most famous.
Tom’s grandfather Serge Silvagni was a premiership player with the Blues, and Stephen played more than 300 games and was named the AFL’s greatest ever fullback in the Team of the Century.
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.
Jo Silvagni’s rapist son Tom will enjoy a Christmas meal in jail seasoned with misery and shame
Jo Silvagni has refused to offer a word of comfort to her son’s victim, instead backing plans to make her endure a retrial
Model Alannah Iaconis was seen outside the Silvagni trash heaps on Saturday
‘We will be considering our options to appeal and shall not be making any further comments on this case. Our goal is to clear his name and bring him home.’
Jo made headlines again after she was caught on camera lashing out at a TV reporter after her son’s sentence.
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!’
Marketing expert and PR guru Max Markson believes Jo’s lucrative deal with the pharmacy giant can survive the current firestorm of bad publicity.
But Markson, who is Australia’s most famous publicist, said that would take time and a certain strategy.
‘My advice to both Jo Silvagni and Chemist Warehouse may be best to not use her for the next three months,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘Take her down over Christmas until everything calms down, and then put her back on air after the next three months and use her again.
‘She’s a fantastic talent, good, strong and the public love her. The people against her online are only the naysayers, that’s what they do.
‘Both can recover from it. It’s a sad story.’
