Rob Keating, 40, of Old Crawley Road, Horsham, was found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court of two offences of stalking involving fear of violence against US photographer and former lawyer Alexandra Saper.
Ms Saper runs Instagram account TheWayfaress, where she promotes solo female travel to more than 100,000 followers.
Judge Michael Bowes KC imposed a hospital order with a restriction order, following medical evidence that Keating suffers from a delusional disorder.
Judge Bowes said: “My overriding concern is to protect the general public, and Alexandra Saper in particular, from any future harm.”
Prosecutor Alexandra Bull told the court that Keating began following Ms Saper in June 2022 and sent her a direct message that she described as “weird and creepy, and didn’t make sense”.
After Ms Saper blocked him, Keating bombarded her business account with emails and videos that became “incessant and constant”.
Ms Bull said the messages became “increasingly intense” as well as “sexual in nature, aggressive and offensive,” and that Keating was speaking to Ms Saper “as if she was in a relationship with him”.
She added: “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 stalked Alexandra Saper to her home in Bali (pictured) (Image: Jakub Halun)
Keating told Ms Saper he would quit his job and travel to Bali to be with her.
He bought a plane ticket and flew to the Indonesian island in January 2023.
Ms Bull said Keating told Ms Saper “I just want to punish you when I see you,” and “You are never going to get rid of me”.
She added that he also sent an image of a person in a suitcase, causing Ms Saper to become “very scared” and forcing her to leave her home and move in with friends.
Keating was arrested on his return to Gatwick Airport in March 2023.
Despite this, he contacted Ms Saper again more than a year later, sending screenshots of flights to Bali with the caption ‘Round Two’.
He was arrested again in November 2024.
Ms Saper’s victim impact statement was read aloud in court, in which she detailed how she was forced to flee her home and leave Bali, and began suffering panic attacks.
Ms Saper 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.”
She said that she had started her social media account to encourage women to travel independently.
She added: “I lived and worked according to these beliefs until they were shattered by a stranger who found me online.
“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.”
Psychiatrist Dr Daron Aslanyan told the court Keating had “grandiose delusions” about his ability to change the world, which was a contributing factor to his offending.
He explained that Keating lacked any awareness of his mental illness and showed no empathy for Ms Saper.
Judge Bowes ruled that a hospital order was necessary to ensure Keating receives compulsory treatment, as he is likely to refuse care in prison due to his ongoing denial of his mental health condition.
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