Man guilty of drugging and raping two straight men as cops fear there may be more victims

1 July 2022, 19:41

A "brazen" and "polished" sexual offender has been found guilty of drugging two heterosexual men and sexually assaulting them, but police fear more victims are yet to come forward.

Luiz Da Silva Neto, 35, was found guilty on Friday at Oxford Crown Court of drugging and sexually assaulting two men in November and December 2021.

The court heard that he drugged the men with an unknown substance that was likely to be GHB or GBL.

Police believe Da Silva Neto targeted the heterosexual males because he thought they would be less likely to report him.

Da Silva Neto "opportunistically targeted" his victims by visited several pub toilets to approach men to test their sobriety in order to identify victims before drugging them.

The predator assaulted his first victim at a house in Middle Barton, Oxfordshire.

They had shots of Jagermeister before the man began to feel tired and went to sleep fully clothed before waking up naked.

When leaving the property, the victim noticed what he described as a syringe on the side of the kitchen and became convinced he had been drugged, the court heard.

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A married man who had been on a night out with work colleagues in central London hotspot Raffles became Da Silva Neto's second victim a month later, the court heard.

He told the jury he has vague memories of events that night.

They included feeling "strange" when he spoke to the doorman at the club, having a cup with a "dark brown liquid" being held to his lips at some point and waking naked in a strange room.

Da Silva Neto said he was "high" and looking for drugs that night but claimed the married man did not seem intoxicated when they met and he denied spiking the man's drink.

Thames Valley Police said he had previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of drug possession at an earlier hearing for substances including MDMA, methylamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine and cannabis.

Oxford Crown Court heard that Da Silva Neto had attempted to pay off one of his victims but he was refused and subsequently reported to the police.

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After the verdicts investigating officer, Detective Inspector James Holden-White described Da Silva Neto as "a sexual predator and a very dangerous man".

"He is brazen, there is an arrogance about it, that he thinks he can get away with this kind of thing," SI Holden-White said.

"He knows that in targeting heterosexual men, who are a demographic of the population who are extremely unlikely to think anything like this would ever happen to them in the first place, but even more unlikely to come forward.

"Any victim of sexual offences will find it very difficult to come forward for any number of reasons, but for straight males, it is perhaps the most unlikely group to be able to come forward or the ones that would find it the hardest thing to do.

"That, we believe, is exactly why he has targeted heterosexual males in this particular instance, and it seems entirely possible therefore, that he may have offended before and there may be other victims out there."

He continued: "I would like to praise the victims for their bravery throughout the ordeal they have suffered and thank them for overcoming the anguish and embarrassment they have been caused to take an extremely dangerous man off the streets and protect others from the risk he presents.

"Society is certainly a much safer place with Da Silva Neto behind bars.

"We are keeping an open mind as to the possibility that Da Silva Neto has committed other offences."

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Thames Valley Police have urged anybody who thinks they may be a victim of sexual assault by Da Silva Neto, or by anybody, to come forward.

SI Holden-White added: "When we look at the method of offending in this case, the 'MO' as we would call it, it seems very brazen, it seems very polished and quite accomplished, he knows what he is doing."

He added: "We are continuing to investigate his activities, I cannot go into any of that, but what I will say is that if you think you are a victim of Luiz Da Silva Neto, or if you think you are a victim of similar offending by somebody else, please come forward, we will listen to you."

Speaking after the verdict, one of the victims described the assault as the "worst experience I have ever survived or lived through".

In an interview with Sky News, the man said he was diagnosed with PTSD, needs counselling, struggles to sleep and socialise, and sometimes loses his vision and hearing.

He said: "This is my duty to come forward because these type of people are dangerous to society.

"Basically, he drugged me and he used me, I don't want to go into details, I don't want to memorise it again, I don't want to relive it.

"I feel more anxious, I see a counsellor and psychologist and it's not easy.

"Sometimes I have panic attacks, I can't socialise, I can't, I just, just trusting people from a certain way is just not the same and I was diagnosed with PTSD.

"I feel like it is eating me up inside...

"For me, this is the worst experience I have ever survived or lived through...

"Sometimes I get really angry as well because I just can't, it's not like killing someone, it's like they did it, they do something to you and you have to live with it for the rest of your life."

Describing the night he was sexually assaulted, he added: "It knocked me out, instantly like in 10 minutes... I barely could stand on my my feet."

Da Silva Neto will be sentenced on July 7 at Oxford Crown Court.