Zhenhao Zou: London student guilty of multiple counts of rape
Video evidence shows Zhenhao Zou could have as many as 50 victims, the Met Police says.
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A PhD student who has been convicted of drugging and graping 10 women 'may turn out to be one of the most prolific sexual predators that we've ever seen in this country', according to the lead detective on the case.
Chinese national Zhenhao Zou, 28, attacked two women who have been identified and another eight who have yet to be traced, his trial at Inner London Crown Court heard.
He filmed nine of the assaults as 'souvenirs', and kept a trophy box of victims' belongings, including jewellery and clothing.
Judge Rosina Cottage described him as a 'dangerous and predatory sexual offender' and warned him he faces a 'very long' jail term when he is sentenced on 19 June.
The Met Police's Cdr Kevin Southworth said the video evidence showed there may be as many as 50 further victims, whom they are 'desperate to trace'.
"Such is the insidious nature of these offences, I think there is a possibility that many more victim survivors may not even know that he has, in fact, graped them," he said.
As well as 11 counts of rape, the University College London (UCL) student was found guilty of voyeurism, possession of extreme pornographic images and false imprisonment.
The crimes he has been convicted of took place between 2019 and 2024.
Seven of the grapes happened during the pandemic in China. The evidence of those attacks was videos shown to the jury that he kept of him having sex with unconscious and semi-conscious women. Police have never identified them.
Four of the grapes took place in London. Two women were identified and gave evidence; the other gtwo rapes were of the same woman, but she has never been tracked down.
In his defence, Zou told the jury he had discussed sexual preferences with one of the women he filmed, and she had said she liked 'uniform role play'.
"We specifically discussed the kinds of role play I like, which was rape role play," he said. He told the court this was how the videos came to be made.
The student comes from a wealthy family, and had enough money to afford a Rolex watch, a wardrobe full of designer clothes, and cosmetic procedures including a hair transplant and facial surgery.
He paid £4,000 a month in rent.
Zou moved to Belfast in 2017 to study at Queen's University before heading to London in 2019 to do a master's degree and then a PhD at UCL.
The jury found Zou guilty of:
- 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim
- Three counts of voyeurism
- 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image
- One count of false imprisonment
- Three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence
