PhD student handed life sentence after raping women in England, China

According to evidence presented at trial, Zou filmed nine of the attacks as 'souvenirs' using hidden or handheld cameras and kept a 'trophy box' of his victims' belongings.

NOTE: The following article contains disturbing details and video footage. Please read at your own discretion.

A British judge sentenced Chinese PhD student Zhenhao Zou to life with a minimum of 24 years in prison for drugging and raping 10 women in England and China.

Zou, 28, was convicted of the attacks, which took place between 2019 and 2023, during a four-week trial earlier this year at Inner London Crown Court.

Judge Rosina Cottage on Thursday described Zou as “very bright young man” who used a manipulative, “charming mask” to hide that he is a “sexual predator.” Cottage told Zou he would serve 22 years and 227 days before he was eligible for parole, according to the London’s Metropolitan Police Service.

A jury found him guilty of 28 offences in total, including counts of voyeurism, possession of an extreme pornographic image, possession of a drug to commit a sexual offence and false imprisonment.

“The lengthy sentence reflects justice for the women who are victim-survivors of Zou and is testament to the extraordinary lengths gone to by investigators, who left no stone unturned in their pursuit to take a dangerous sexual predator off the streets,” Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement.

Zou, who claimed the encounters were consensual, was studying for a PhD in mechanical engineering at University College London in 2023 when the first woman came forward to allege that he had raped her.

As part of the investigation, police seized Zou’s phone, on which they found videos of him raping unconscious women. A search of his apartment in south London turned up sedatives and recording equipment.