PRETTY Alexandra Saper was living her best life, travelling through tropical paradises and making money out of posting pictures of her experiences online.
But the intimate relationship she built with her audience took a dark turn when one creepy fan took the word “follower” far too literally.
Alexandra Saper outside court, she was threatened with rape and kidnap by Keating Credit: Solent
Alexandra was forced to flee Credit: Facebook
Brit Rob Keating, 39, after a terrifying two-and-a-half-year campaign of stalking saw him pack a rope and ties in his suitcase and book a one-way ticket to Bali, threatening to kidnap her.
Former lawyer Alexandra, 34, whose online persona The Wayfaress has more than 160,000 followers, was left fearing for her life.
She told how she was left to “hide and run” as the authorities and failed to take action or treat her case seriously.
In an emotional statement read out in court, Alexandra said: “I never imagined that a man I had never met – a total stranger – would fixate on me, stalk me across continents, threaten to kidnap, rape, and physically harm me, and derail my life for years.”
Keating, who also made online content, was living in his sister’s garage in Havant, Hants.
He first contacted Alexandra on in July 2022 with a “weird and creepy” message to which the influencer responded, “dude, why are you following me if you don’t like my content?”
She blocked Keating on the social media platform after he shared extracts from the erotic S&M novel of Grey.
But he then began bombarding her with videos and messages over email and used another profile to continue viewing her posts, which he believed were secret messages to him.
The former lawyer was told to “get off” social media by cops Credit: Instagram
Keating quoted extracts from the erotic S&M book 50 Shades of GreyCredit: Refer to Source
In videos, he told her to get “kidnap insurance” and that he was going to “spank” her.
In another from December 2022, Keating said: “You’re going to have to reply to me eventually.”
And in February 2023 he travelled to , posting a picture of the plane he was about to board with the caption “let the games begin”.
He visited bars and just metres from her home and continued to message her, telling her “you’re never getting rid of me”.
US-born Alexandra was so concerned that she fled to the nearby Southeast Asian country of Laos to put distance between her and Keating.
On his return to the UK in March 2023, Keating was arrested by police who found black rope in his suitcase.
Speaking in a victim impact statement, Alexandra spoke about how she was left to face her stalker alone.
She said: “I never imagined how hard it would be to simply be believed.”
She said her beliefs of encouraging women to travel solo were “shattered by a stranger who found me online.”
She added: “I blocked him, as I had done with other strange men before.
“But unlike every other person who understood “leave me alone,” Rob refused to stop.
Alexandra said Keating’s conviction did not erase three years of trauma Credit: Facebook
Alexandra gave an emotional victim impact statement to Portsmouth Crown Court Credit: The Times
“He found my work email and began sending as many as ten emails a day.
“He created new secret accounts I couldn’t trace or block.
“He began following my friends online to get information about me and my whereabouts, sending them messages pretending to be a friend of mine.
“He mentioned knowing where my parents lived.
“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.
“He told me he was quitting his job, getting a visa to Indonesia, and flying to Bali to find me.
“And then I opened the Drive link he had sent me multiple times, but I’d ignored.
“Inside were about 30 videos – totalling over an hour – describing in explicit detail what he would do to me when he found me: tying me up, forcing me to have sex with him, sticking his penis inside me, making me scream and hurt, “punishing me,”.
Alexandra feared for her life and stopped going outside Credit: The Times
Keating was detained in a mental health unit after he was found guilty of stalking Credit: Solent
“He described kidnapping me, wearing disguises when he arrived in Bali, and shoving me into a suitcase because, as he said, at 5’1” I would fit inside.
“He described restraining me with rope and seducing or kidnapping other women that he would rape while forcing me to watch.
“I had his flight confirmation to Bali, a photo of a suitcase with a body inside, and a declaration that he was coming to kidnap me.
“When he arrived, he was in my neighbourhood, emailing me at all hours, and posting photos from cafés and bars I frequented – some just 100 metres from my home.
“He was patrolling my street, looking for me. I stopped leaving my house unless I wore a disguise.
“But I worried it wasn’t enough and that he could still find me and follow me home. Then I stopped leaving my house at all.
“I moved into a hotel with security, but lay awake convinced he had tracked my computer and was outside my window.
“That night, I had my first panic attack: heart pounding, shaking uncontrollably, sweating, unable to stop the visions of him watching me, standing over me as I slept, raping me.”
Alexandra leaving Portsmouth Crown Court Credit: Solent
Alexandra’s mental health “crumbled” Credit: Facebook
Alexandra said she was shocked by the reaction of the local police, one of whom said: “You can’t blame a guy for trying with a pretty girl,” and “Poor guy, he’s just sad you rejected him.”
She told how she was forced to flee Indonesia and move to a remote village in Laos “hoping I couldn’t be traced”.
She said: “My mental crumbled. I disappeared from social media, my came to a screeching halt, and I was completely isolated from friends.
“I could barely or eat. I couldn’t talk or think about anything other than being stalked.
“I cancelled work projects, lost clients, was removed from .
“For months, I pleaded with the UK and US embassies, countless police officers across three countries, politicians, public figures, and the press to help me.
“I just wanted my life back, but he was still in my neighbourhood, roaming freely, searching for me.”
When Keating returned to the UK, he was arrested and his passport confiscated. But he was released two days later.
Keating then resumed stalking her and moved to – a country with no anti-stalking laws.
Alexandra said: “The police told me, yet again, it was ‘out of their hands’.”
Months later, he returned to the UK, and the police picked up the again.
It was two-and-a-half years until police finally pressed charges.
Alexandra said: “I have had to stand tall against years of victim-blaming and shaming — claims that I should’ve done more to protect myself, I should have dressed differently, posted to Instagram less, posted more details to Instagram, fought harder for myself, not fought so hard to trigger him, shown more emotion, shown less emotion, chosen a different profession, chosen a different body, chosen a different style of swim suit, chosen a different country to live in, called the police sooner, called the police more often, not badgered the police so much that I offended them, taken self-defense classes, hired a full-time security guard.
“Thankfully, the jurors convicted Rob unanimously of both counts.
“I thought that after conviction, this would be over and I would feel relief, closure, and peace.
“But a conviction doesn’t erase 3 years of trauma.
“Rob took away my sense of safety, my trust in men, my faith in the systems meant to protect me, and my security in my own home and daily life.
“I had to remind myself to not give up on my life when it looked like the world and our systems had turned their backs on mine.”
Keating was detained this week at a hospital and given an indefinite restraining order.
Crown Court was told he suffered ‘delusional disorder’ because he had ‘grandiose delusions’ that he could have ‘changed the world’ by kidnapping Ms Saper.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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