Rob Keating, 40, stalked US travel influencer Alexandra Saper to Bali, telling her he would do whatever was necessary for them to be together – including kidnapping her
Rob Keating has been sentenced to a hospital order after stalking a US influencer
A British man who stalked a US travel influencer to Bali and later threatened to kidnap her while suffering from “grandiose delusions” has been sentenced to a hospital order.
Rob Keating, 40, bombarded US photographer and former lawyer Alexandra Saper with emails and videos which became “increasingly intense” as well as “sexual in nature, aggressive and offensive”, a court heard.
The defendant told Ms Saper he would do whatever was necessary to be with her, and “if that involves kidnapping, so be it”.
Keating was convicted at Portsmouth Crown Court of two offences of stalking involving fear of violence against the victim.
Psychiatrist Daron Aslanyan told the hearing that he had diagnosed Keating as having a delusional disorder as he suffered “grandiose delusions about being able to change the world, which was a contributing factor to his offending”.
He added: “Because he was isolated he was looking for someone who would fit his world view with this person being able to change the world through social media or otherwise.”
He said that Keating had “no insight into him having a mental disorder” and had “not demonstrated any empathy to the victim”.
Judge Michael Bowes KC told the court the hospital order with a restriction order was required for Keating to receive treatment for his mental health disorder which he might refuse in a prison environment because of his failure to accept his diagnosis.
He said: “My over-riding concern is to protect the general public, and Alexandra Saper in particular, from any future harm.”
Alexandra Bull, prosecuting, said Keating first started following Ms Saper, who has more than 100,000 followers of her TheWayfaress Instagram account, in June 2022 before sending her a direct message.
Ms Saper thought the message was “weird and creepy, and didn’t make sense,” the court was told.
After blocking Keating, he sent her “incessant and constant” emails and videos to her business account which became “increasingly intense” – as well as “sexual in nature, aggressive and offensive.”
The prosecutor added: “She read an email that he said he was in love with her, wanted to be with her and would do whatever was necessary, and ‘if that involves kidnapping, so be it’.”
Keating, of Old Crawley Road, Horsham, West Sussex, also told his victim he would leave his job to travel to Bali to be with her. At the end of January 2023, he had bought a plane ticket and travelled to the Indonesian island, the court heard.
Ms Bull said the defendant had sent Ms Saper messages with one saying “I just want to punish you when I see you”, another asking to have dinner with her and saying: “You are never going to get rid of me.”
Ms Bull said he also sent an image of a person in a suitcase, causing Ms Saper to be “very scared” and forcing her to leave her home to live with friends. She added: “She was terrified to have someone watching her every move.”
Despite being arrested on his return to Gatwick airport in March 2023, Keating, formerly of Havant, Hampshire, contacted Ms Saper again more than a year later and sent her screenshots of flights to Bali with the caption “Round Two”, leading to him being arrested again in November 2024.
In her victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Saper that she was forced her to flee first her home and then Bali as she started to suffer panic attacks.
She said: “My mental health crumbled, I disappeared from social media, my business came to a screeching halt and I was completely isolated from friends, I could barely eat or sleep.”
Ms Saper said that she had started her social media account to encourage women to travel independently but added: “I lived and worked according to these beliefs until they were shattered by a stranger who found me online.”
She added: “I hoped ignoring him would make him stop, instead he became more obsessed, more sexually explicit and more aggressive, then came the threats, he said he would do whatever it took to be with me, including kidnapping.”
