A serial rapist from south-east London, who used hidden cameras concealed in items like an air freshener and drugged his victims, is due to be sentenced for a catalogue of calculated sex crimes.
A Catalogue of Abuse
Chao Xu, 33, of Greenwich, admitted his guilt in August this year to a total of 24 sexual offences committed over a three-year period from February 2022 to June 2025. The Chinese national entered his pleas at a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court.
His shocking list of convictions includes four counts of rape, eight counts of assault by penetration, four counts of sexual assault, four counts of voyeurism, two counts of administering a substance with intent, and two counts of operating equipment beneath the clothing of another without consent, commonly known as upskirting.
The Investigation Unfolds
The Metropolitan Police first became aware of Xu's predatory behaviour after he hosted a networking event at his Greenwich flat in June. He offered a place for one of the women to recover after she felt unwell. It was there that he raped her multiple times.
Subsequent police investigations revealed he had given her drugs known to cause drowsiness and incapacitation. A search of his properties uncovered that he had planted hidden camera devices in multiple locations, including ingeniously concealed inside an air freshener and within bathrooms.
Officers also found hundreds of intimate images and videos of women on his phone, all believed to have been recorded without their knowledge or consent. The court heard that his upskirting activities took place at a workplace and at London Bridge underground station.
Inevitable Prison Sentence
Following his guilty plea in August, the judge, Recorder Simon Stirling, told Xu that the inevitable outcome is a lengthy custodial sentence. Xu pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue a trial on those charges.
Chao Xu is now set to discover his fate when he returns to Woolwich Crown Court for sentencing on Friday, November 14.
