A former Princeton University student has been convicted of multiple rapes after assaulting one of his victims while travelling home from a night out with his rugby teammates.
Paulo Kretteis, who had already pleaded guilty to assault in relation to the attacks, was convicted of two counts of rape and making a threat to kill following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court.
The court heard how the 22-year-old “charmed his victims and lulled them into a false sense of security, before carrying out violent sexual attacks”.
Detailing the attacks, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Kretteis was out with teammates when he saw his first victim, a 25-year-old woman, outside The Chatsworth Bar in Acton on 13 October, 2019. He subsequently befriended her and walked her back to her home in Hammersmith, at which point he asked if she would accompany him to a nearby bus stop.
It was then, near a secluded footbridge, that Kretteis grabbed hold of the woman’s throat and began squeezing it while threatening to kill her. He pulled at her trousers and hit her in the face – only stopping after his victim asked if she still had all her teeth.
Kretteis told her to smile so he could check, before striking her in the face again and orally raping her.
The woman managed to escape when she saw an oncoming passer-by, prompting her to run into the middle of the road and flag down a taxi driver who stopped and called the police.
The Ivy League graduate’s second attack came some weeks later when police were called to a residential address in the early hours of 15 December – there a 20-year-old woman told officers she had been raped and attacked. The victim was left with bruising on her face and throat as well as bite marks.
DNA later found on a jacket that the first woman left behind in the struggle confirmed Kretteis was the attacker.
Kate Shilton, a senior crown prosecutor within the Serious Sexual Offences unit, said the case against Kretteis was solid and included “DNA evidence, strong witness testimony and CCTV footage which clearly showed [him] at the scene”.
She thanked Kretteis’ “brave victims” for speaking out, saying: “I hope this conviction goes some way to providing them with a sense of closure and encourages other victims of sexual crimes to come forward and see their attackers face justice.”
