Student expelled from Princeton jailed for 18 years for raping two women in London

A professional rugby player who was expelled from Princeton University has been jailed after raping two women in London.

Paulo Kretteis, 22, appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday where he was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment.

He was found guilty of raping two women and making threats to kill earlier this year after previously pleading guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Kretteis had earned a scholarship to Princeton, the Ivy League university, in New Jersey, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

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However, he was thrown out in May 2019 after a proven allegation of "non-consensual sexual intercourse" following an internal investigation.

The dual Brazilian national, who had been selected for Brazil's under-21s rugby team, also played rugby professionally for the Ealing Trailfinders.

Judge Giles Curtis-Raleigh jailed him for a total of 18 years on Friday with a five-year period on extended licence.

He told Kretteis: "In both their cases they were in no position whatsoever to resist the violence, both sexual and physical, you inflicted on them by reason of your considerable size and strength."

The judge said his expulsion from Princeton had been the "most plain and unambiguous warning" about his behaviour towards women.

"It is a measure of your arrogance and lack of respect for women that, instead of being deterred by what happened in America, you went on to commit the serious offences for which I have to sentence you today," he said.

Kretteis had been on a night out with his teammates when he targeted his first victim in the early hours of October 13 2019, outside the Chatsworth Bar, in Acton, west London.

The 25-year-old was attacked near a secluded footbridge after she was befriended by Kretteis, who offered to walk her home.

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The judge said he had taken "real pleasure in her fear, pain and humiliation" after Kretteis punched her in the face, having told her to smile when she asked if she still had all her teeth left in a "particularly chilling" part of the attack.

A second woman, 20, was left with bruising on her face and throat, as well as bite marks, after being raped and attacked on December 15 2019.

The court heard how he hit her and grabbed her neck in what the judge described as "the most dangerous and traumatic way for any woman".

The victim said she was left "physically, psychologically and emotionally" harmed by the attack and took to sleeping with a kitchen knife by her bed out of fear.

Kretteis was identified in February last year from the DNA found on the jacket his first victim had left behind in the struggle, which was found dumped in a nearby bin.

He claimed he was not the man seen in CCTV footage because he never styled his hair in a man bun.

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But his Instagram posts matched images of him at the scene of one of the attacks wearing a Princeton University top.

Kretteis was jailed for 10 years for the first rape and handed a consecutive eight-year term for the second, with a five-year period on extended licence, as well as concurrent sentences of three years and 11 months for the ABH offences and four years for making threats to kill.

He will serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before he is considered for release.

Detective Sergeant James Bulpin, who led the investigation in Hammersmith, said: "Kretteis attacked a lone woman in the street late at night and only fled the scene when interrupted by a person walking by. He thought he had got away with this attack – something he can reflect on as he serves his sentence."

Detective Constable Asha Adams, of the West Area Command who investigated the second offence, said: “Kretteis is a dangerous predator who showed no remorse or regard for either of the women he raped.

"Their bravery and commitment throughout the investigation and subsequent court proceedings are to their credit and I hope that their actions empower other survivors of serious sexual offences to come forward.”

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