A “brazen” sex offender has been handed a 22-year jail sentence after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting and spiking two men with a date-rape drug.
Earlier this week, the court heard how Luiz Da Silva Neto left one of his victims feeling “paralysed” after he woke to the 36-year-old performing oral sex on him with pornography playing in the background. Another victim was a married man who met with da Silva Neto at a rented cottage after he had been on a night out with colleagues at London nightclub Raffles. Prosecutor Matthew Walsh said Da Silva Neto laced his victims drinks with GHB or GHL, which he accepted using himself recreationally.
While both men claim to have woke up naked and unaware of what had happened to them, the 36-year-old argued that all sexual interactions between him and the two men had been consensual. Da Silva Neto, who worked for a London floristry business and helped his partner rent out the Oxfordshire cottage to paying guests, was sentenced for rape, administering a substance with intent to stupefy or overpower, causing or inciting another to engage in sexual activity without consent ,and possession of a “party bag” of illegal drugs
Delivering the sentence, Judge Michael Gledhill said: “You were quite happy to have sex with as many men as you could get, whether they were willing to have sex with you or not. You were more than happy to have sex with men who you know were heterosexual and why you were happy to do that I’m not going to speculate. The sentence is going to be substantial as they are very serious offences.
Investigating officer Detective Inspector James Holden-White said: “I am pleased that Luiz Inacio Da Silva Neto has been jailed for 22 years for his heinous crimes. He is a sexual predator and a very dangerous man and as such the streets are a much safer place with him behind bars. Da Silva Neto deliberately targeted heterosexual men whom he believed would be especially unlikely to report the offences to police, but he was wrong. The two victims have shown immense bravery throughout and it is because of them that Da Silva Neto has been convicted and jailed.”
Police are also keeping an open mind over the possibility of further attacks performed by the same man, and have promised complete anonymity for anybody who wishes to come forward.
