American travel influencer breaks silence on 'extremely disturbing' stalking ordeal after being targeted by British obsessive with rope in his suitcase who warned her to 'get kidnap insurance'
Talking for the first time since Rob Keating's conviction, Alexandra Saper said his 'extremely disturbing' actions had 'rattled' her sense of identity and left her feeling constantly scared.
Keating faces jail after being found guilty earlier this month of two counts of stalking for sending Ms Saper constant messages in which he shared his graphic sexual fantasies including that he would 'go 50 Shades of Grey' on her and wanted to abduct her.
'This was the first time in my life I was scared all the time. I would wake up scared, I would fall asleep scared,' Ms Saper, a former lawyer, told her 100,000 Instagram followers.
'I felt so disempowered, it just rattled my whole sense of identity.'
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Saper said: 'It was horrible, disgusting and extremely disturbing.
'The implications of what this has done to me over the last three years don't just go away just because someone's been convicted.
'Getting things to move in the right direction was so hard despite a mountain of evidence. [Speaking out] was the only thing I could think of to take back ownership of the narrative after someone had decided for no reason to uproot my life.'
The 39-year-old-Keating went 'from follower to stalker' after becoming obsessed with her posts on Instagram, booking a one way ticket to the tropical Indonesian paradise while warning her to 'get kidnap insurance'.
He visited bars and restaurants just metres from her home and continued to message her whilst she was in Bali, telling her 'you're never getting rid of me'.
Ms Saper told the court she fled the country because she was so 'terrified' he would find her.
In a video about her ordeal, posted at the time, Ms Saper also said she felt she was being 'hunted like prey'.
On his return to the UK in March 2023, Keating was arrested by police who found black rope and a tie in his suitcase.
Keating told police in an interview that he was not sexually attracted to Ms Saper, but said that 'she had shown an interest in him and there could be something there' between the two.
In videos he often referred to the influencer as his 'Spartan Queen'.
He continued to stalk Ms Saper between September and November 2024, at which point he lived in Horsham in West Sussex.
Keating posted a picture of a plane ticket from London to Bali with the caption 'round 2' on his Instagram in November. He was subsequently arrested.
Now, at Portsmouth Crown Court, Hants, he has been found guilty of two counts of stalking involving serious harm or distress following a six day trial.
The jury deliberated for just two hours and, when reading the verdict to Keating, Judge Michael Bowes KC said a prison sentence was 'inevitable'.
Closing the case, prosecutor Alexandra Bull described Keating as 'indulging' in a 'wilful self delusion' involving a 'one dimensional' version of the influencer as he 'moved from follower to stalker'.
'He began to indulge in wilful self-delusion, all those genuine emotions he felt from following was not enough,' she said.
'The person he started fantasising about was entirely one dimensional, they are a character he has never met...
'It is her job to make people feel better about themselves but that is just one part of Ms Saper.
'When Ms Saper's generic posts were not enough for him he wanted to take it to the next level. What he wanted was her attention on him.'
She continued: 'Her job is to appeal to a wider audience and he knows that, this is a wilful delusion.
'Does this justify his behaviour, he provides himself with an excuse, he tries to convince himself Ms Saper is trying to contact him, it is just his fantasy.'
The traffic worker, who lived in his sister's garage in Havant, Hants, first contacted Ms Saper on Instagram 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 50 Shades of Grey.
However, 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.
Ms Saper tried to block his emails too but that just sent them to her spam folder.
The court was shown over an hour of footage from these videos in which Keating told Ms Saper to get 'kidnap insurance' and that he was going to 'spank' her.
He told her she was 'allowing him' to 'run with it' regarding his contact with her, but added: 'Either that, or you're not interested and not watching these videos and I've lost my mind or something.'
In a video from December 2022, Keating said: 'You're going to have to reply to me eventually - there's talk about coming to Bali to get you.'
In February 2023 he did travel to Bali, posting a picture of the plane he was about to board with the caption 'let the games begin'.
Ms Saper was so concerned that she fled to the nearby Southeast Asian country of Laos to put distance between her and Keating.
Giving evidence at court, the influencer said she 'didn't think' he would actually make the trip to the tropical island.
'I blocked him on everything and never responded, so that was a pretty clear indication of not wanting contact,' Ms Saper added.
'I was aware that he was talking about coming to Bali, but I didn't think it would actually happen.
'I shared because I wanted my life back, there was nothing I could do staying in hiding,' she said. 'I was sick, I couldn't eat, I was depressed.'
In his own evidence Keating had tried to claim the kidnap threats were just 'playful ridiculousness' and that the ordeal had had 'no adverse effect' on Ms Saper.
Keating tried to tell the court that because of the Anchorman memes on his Instagram profile there was no way she would take him seriously.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Surgeon who claimed on TV he lost legs to sepsis ‘actually caused own injuries & bought body mod vids from Eunuch Maker'
DOC 'LIES' Surgeon who claimed on TV he lost legs to sepsis 'actually caused own injuries & bought body mod vids from Eunuch Maker' A SURGEON who claimed on TV he lost his legs to sepsis allegedly caused his own injuries after buying videos from the Eunuch Maker. Neil Hopper opened up about his so-called battle on This Morning - saying he developed the illness after a family camping trip. 5 Neil Hopper claimed he lost his legs to sepsis Credit: Instagram 5 He allegedly bought videos from Eunuch Maker Marius Gustavson. Credit: Metropolitan Police The consultant vascular surgeon has now been charged with fraud after allegedly causing his injuries himself. Hopper is also accused of encouraging/ assisting in the commission of an indictable only offence (grievous bodily harm). He allegedly bought videos from extreme body modification site The EunuchMaker website that showed the removal of limbs. The 49-year-old is also accused of encouraging cannibalistic ringleader Marius Gustavson to remove body parts from other people. Gustavson, who had his own penis cut off, the tip of his nipple removed and his leg frozen so that it had to be amputated, was previously jailed for life. Devon and Cornwall Police said he has been remanded into custody to appear at Bodmin Magistrates' Court today. The fraud charge states he allegedly made a false representation to insurers - "namely the injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and were not self-inflicted, intending to make a gain". Speaking about his injuries previously, Hopper claimed he and his daughter fell unwell on the camping trip in 2019. He said his daughter recovered but he was taken to hospital where he was told he had sepsis. Hopper claimed he would have needed multiple operations and skin grafts to save his legs. He said there was no guarantee the surgeries would work and feared the skin grafts would impact his work. Hopper said: "I opted not to have hundreds and hundreds of operations but just to have one to sort it out." He also told how he kept focusing on the use of power tools during the amputation, which he found "icky". The dad, who carried out hundreds of amputation operations on others, was branded the "Bravest surgeon in Britain". Hopper worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals since March 2023. He had General Medical Council restrictions in place from April 2023 and has been suspended from the medical register since December 2023. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has worked alongside police during the investigation. A spokesperson for the trust said: 'The charges do not relate to Mr Hopper's professional conduct and there has been no evidence to suggest any risk to patients. "Mr Hopper worked in at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals from 2013 until he was suspended from duty in March 2023, following his initial arrest. 'Former patients with any questions or concerns about their treatment can contact the Royal Cornwall Hospitals' Patient Experience team on 01872 25 2793, or email 5 Hopper claimed he developed sepsis after a camping trip Credit: Instagram 5 He opened up about his battle on TV Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
One of Australia's most elite all-girls schools is rocked to its core after principal's heartbreaking announcement about a Year 9 student
An elite private all-girls Catholic school in Brisbane has been rocked after the tragic death of a student. All Hallows' School closed on Tuesday after making the heartbreaking announcement that Year Nine student Stella Medeiros-Hodge had died by suicide over the weekend. The school has a reputation as one of the best girls schools in the country with parents charged upwards of $35,000 each year for domestic students. Catherine O'Kane, the principal of the 159-year-old institution, revealed the tragic news in an email sent to parents, caregivers and the extended school community. She said Ms Medeiros-Hodge had died on Sunday, in the correspondence sent on Tuesday afternoon. 'It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Stella Medeiros-Hodge, Year 9 (Whitty), overnight on Sunday,' the email, seen by the Courier Mail, read. 'Stella is the beloved daughter of Lucia and Iain and the sister of Isabella (Year 12).' Understandably, the email told the school community Ms Medeiros-Hodge's family had requested privacy. 'I know that our community will respect this with the utmost sensitivity and care,' the email continued. Ms O'Kane encouraged parents to speak with their daughters about how they can sensitively react to the news on social media. On Tuesday, parents were seen arriving at the school to pick up their children at 2pm. The principal warned parents to monitor their children's interactions with social media and the amount of time they spend online. She also confirmed the scheduled school activities that have been postponed and did not say when they would resume. Spirit week activities would not continue as normal and the Adderton house mass scheduled for Wednesday morning has been postponed. Ms O'Kane said she expected other scheduled activities will continue as planned. Details of Ms Medeiros-Hodge's funeral will be shared with the school community when available.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
UK sanctions target people-smugglers, small boat dealer in migrant crackdown
LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Britain announced sanctions on Wednesday on 24 people and one company it said were involved in people-smuggling, as part of efforts to cut the number of migrants arriving on small boats. Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to "smash the gangs" behind irregular migration when he came to power last year, but in the first six months of 2025 the number of migrants coming across the Channel has jumped nearly 50% to 20,000 from the same period last year. The new sanctions regime, first outlined in January, will target those who supply and finance small boats, forge fake documents and funnel cash through an underground payment system known as Hawala, the government said. "From Europe to Asia we are taking the fight to the people-smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions," foreign minister David Lammy said in a statement. The sanctions are designed to disrupt the flow of money by freezing property and bank accounts, the government said. It named seven Iraqi-linked individuals it said were involved in people-smuggling, as well as eight people from the Balkans who supply fake passports. Sanctions were also imposed on a company in China which advertises its small boats online explicitly for the purpose of people smuggling, and a number of people who work from Belgium and Serbia, and who were described as "gangland bosses" by Britain.
