Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced today that a Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge sentenced Helio Santiago Ferreira, 45, to 400 months in prison for raping two women – one in 2016 and one in 2018. Both cases involved the sexual assault of intoxicated women unknown to Ferreira.Â
2016 Case
On September 17, 2016, Ferreira posed as a ride-share driver. When the victim entered his car, he sexually assaulted her with two other men and left her in Northwest Portland. DNA evidence obtained at the hospital through a sexual assault examination matched DNA from a 2012 sexual assault case.
2018 Case
On September 6, 2018, Ferreira followed a woman who took an Uber from a bar to the residence where she was staying in Northeast Portland (the woman was in town for a work conference). The Uber driver had to rouse the victim several times to get her out of the car, and he did not see her enter the residence before he drove away. The next morning, the victim woke up and discovered her clothes on backwards and that she was missing her wallet, credit cards, and cell phone. She also discovered that some of her credit cards had fraudulent activity in Portland and Vancouver. DNA evidence obtained at the hospital through a sexual assault examination matched DNA from both the 2012 and 2016 case.
Arrest
PPB detectives obtained surveillance video from the locations where the 2018 victim’s credit card was fraudulently used. A crime stoppers bulletin was released by PPB with photos from the surveillance video. Three anonymous tips came in reporting that the person shown in the photos was Helio Ferreira. An arrest warrant and search warrant for DNA were signed and executed in Georgia where Ferreira had moved in 2019. He was arrested and extradited back to Oregon in May 2020.
Bench Trial
Deputy District Attorneys Brandon Riffel and Keegan Matosich represented the state at trial, which took place in front of Judge Benjamin Souede from May 2-8, 2023. Judge Souede delivered his verdict on May 9, finding Ferreira guilty of two counts of Rape in the First Degree (one count in each of the two cases).
Judge Souede also found Ferreira not guilty of one count of Kidnapping in the First Degree (2016 case), and two counts of Sodomy in the First Degree related to the 2012 case.
Sentencing took place today, where Judge Souede imposed the 400-month prison sentence. Ferreira is currently in custody at the Multnomah County Inverness Jail. He also faces charges of sex abuse and kidnapping out of Washington County.
