‘Calculated’ predator Chao Xu spiked and raped students jailed as police fear there could be hundreds more victims
A serial rapist suspected of being one of Britain’s worst sex offenders has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 14 years after he escalated and recorded himself abusing his victims.
Chao Xu, 33, placed hidden cameras inside household items such as air freshener and a pack of sanitary pads to spy on women visiting his Greenwich home address, as well as filming women at work and participating in “upskirt sex” activities at London Bridge tube station.
The Metropolitan Police believe the Chinese national may have “hundreds” more victims and have urged women who may have come into contact with Xu to come forward.
Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC told the court: “The evidence gathered by the police shows that the defendant is a bold and persistent sexual attacker whose crimes are becoming increasingly serious. The evidence reveals that the defendant is so courageous that he is willing to attack anywhere. He is prepared to strike at his own home address, at work and at railway stations, as well as against anyone.”
He added: “Some of his crimes occurred even when there were other people around. He doesn’t seem to have a woman safe around him.”
Honor Judge Christopher Grout said Xu was an “incredibly dangerous man” and took “great pleasure” in his crime.
The judge told Xu: “Your behavior was calculated and planned, as evidenced by the secret recording systems you installed in your apartments and the fact that you incapacitated some of your victims by drugging them.
“You betrayed the trust of some of the women you were friends with in the most horrific ways imaginable.”
Judge Grout added that possible deportation to China was “a matter for the Home Office”.
Their crimes bear strong similarities to those of Zhenhao Zou, a Chinese doctoral student who drugged most of his victims and raped 10 women, and was sentenced in June to life in prison with a minimum of 24 years.
But police said they had “no reason to believe” the crimes were linked or that the criminals knew each other.
Xu was arrested on June 1 this year after a victim contacted police at his address to report she suspected he had been drugged during a networking event at his Glaisher Street flat.
As the manager of a recruitment company, Xu was targeting young Chinese students at university and regularly hosted events that were used as a cover to carry out his “calculated” crimes.
Confronted by the woman, who recalled being sexually assaulted and filmed, Xu informed her that he would only show her phone “to the police.”
Officers arrived at the address within minutes and a forensic digital download revealed “extremely disturbing material” showing him raping and sexually assaulting women who appeared to be unconscious or extremely intoxicated.
He was charged on June 3 and admitted committing 24 sexual offenses against at least 12 victims over three years at a plea and trial preparation hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in August.
Detectives were able to identify three of his victims, while four others who suffered serious sexual assault could not be identified. They are all believed to be of Chinese heritage.
In impact statements read aloud to the court, victims described suffering from nightmares and anxiety and said they had difficulties at work or studying. His first victim said: “What kind of man put me in this situation? Now I feel miserable and hopeless most of the time. I wasn’t like this before he attacked me. He changed me. I feel like I can never go back to the way I was.”
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Xu, who came to the UK in 2016 to study International Law at the University of Greenwich, regularly served his guests a drink called ‘Spring of Life’, which contained different alcoholic substances and Chinese herbal medicines.
Police believe he would spike his intended victim’s drinks with stupefying drugs before offering them a place to stay after he fell ill and sexually assaulted them.
The first victim to contact police said he was “in and out of consciousness” and “powerless” to prevent the attack. Videos taken on Xu’s phone showed her being sexually assaulted repeatedly over four hours, and she told police she felt “lost control of her body.”
Forensic analysis revealed the victim had been given GHB, a commonly known ‘rape date drug’, and Scopolamine, a prescription drug that can cause memory loss and severe fatigue.
In her impact statement she said: “I haven’t been able to share any of this experience with my family and I fear who I might share it with in the future. I know that in my own country the victim of sexual assault is often questioned and blamed rather than the perpetrator. I question whether I am to blame for this and whether I could have done anything to prevent it. How do I deal with this?”
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A search warrant at his apartment found “numerous hidden cameras throughout the property, a number of suspicious liquid substances, and numerous digital storage devices.”
This led to the discovery of other crimes against women; these included hundreds of photographs of Xu ‘upskirting’ unsuspecting women on the London Underground, and the practice of taking photographs under clothing without one’s consent.
Although little is known about Xu’s background in China, police said he was “relatively wealthy” and was described as “very generous” by those who knew him. He had a girlfriend who cooperated with the police at the time of the crime, and Xu had no previous convictions and was unknown to the police.
Lead investigator Det Ch Insp Lewis Sanderson said: “This case revealed a deeply disturbing pattern of behavior spanning several years. “Xu was operating in environments that were supposed to be safe.
“University circles, professional networks and public spaces. He used trust, familiarity and social gatherings to pursue his actions and target vulnerable individuals. We know from the evidence that many women were filmed without their knowledge or consent.”
Suzanne Crane, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Chao Xu deliberately drugged the women to render them unconscious and defenseless, enabling him to rape and sexually assault them without their knowledge.
“Xu is a serious danger to women and the scale of his crime is so great that it could have continued unnoticed if not for the brave testimonies of victims who came forward after realizing what had happened to them.”
Police said anyone wishing to make a report regarding Xu can contact them by emailing operation.kafka@met.police.uk or calling 02071753802.
People can also report to police from within the UK by calling 101 using reference 01/7563135/25.
