An American influencer who has made Bali her home says she has had to flee the island to an undisclosed location out of fear for her safety following the arrival of an alleged stalker from the UK.
Alexandra Saper, 31, a women’s empowerment coach based in Bali, posted a video on her Instagram (@thewayfaress) last week, in which she opened up about being targeted by a “deranged and delusional stalker” over the past year.
She described how her stalker, a 38-year-old former traffic management operative from West Sussex, England, named Robert Keating, touched down in Bali some three weeks ago to look for her. He had sent her numerous emails and videos describing in graphic detail “how he plans to kidn*p me, r*pe me and other women, shove my body in a suitcase, and more horrific things that I don’t need to share on social media.”
“I have never met this person, never had a conversation with him, never replied to his emails, have zero previous relationship with him,” Saper told Coconuts.
Saper forwarded some of Keating’s videos to Coconuts, and we can verify that he made those threats and more.
“I can get on that plane and I can come and shove you in my suitcase and kidnap yo ass. That belongs to me now. I can put you in a little Bali villa and you will become a Spartan queen,” Keating said in a video taken in January 2023.
He also sent her a photo of a red suitcase, containing a person zipping themself inside.
In other videos, Keating said that the one-way communication between him and Saper was the influencer’s way of making him “suffer,” which spurred him further to find her in Bali. Keating detailed in horrid detail about the ways he would punish her sexually, involving other women.
“You are not going to enjoy this,” Keating warned Saper in one video.
Saper said Keating’s arrival in Bali turned her life upside down.
“Eventually, I had to make a hard decision to leave my home and come somewhere safe where I knew he wouldn’t look for me. I want my life back, my home, my peace, my freedom. I want to stop this man from continuing to stalk/harass/abuse me, and the many women he’ll surely go after beyond me,” she said.
‘The whole kidnap thing was a passing comment’
Keating has indeed come to Bali, as he has recently uploaded photos and videos of his activities on the island. People in Bali who are aware about the allegations against Keating have also taken photos of him out and about on the island.
Speaking to Coconuts via Instagram, Keating confirmed that he wanted to find Saper in Bali.
“I read this article she wrote and the way her energy and her intellect worked, it was like I wrote it. Now with me, I don’t care what girls look like. I’m all about connection and inner world,” he said.
“And because she never said ‘no’ or ‘leave me alone’ or ‘I’m not interested,’ I mean, I don’t give up because something is hard.
“This whole kidnap thing was a passing comment in an email, which was blown out of proportion,” he wrote – clearly a lie given the videos Coconuts has seen in which he talked about kidnapping and abusing Saper at length.
On Instagram, Keating has also actively responded to users telling him to leave Saper alone and leave Bali altogether.
In one of the Instagram stories above, Keating claims to have stopped pursuing Saper after realizing that recent developments killed his idea of a relationship with her.
‘Enough was enough’
It’s unclear if or when Saper will feel safe enough to return to Bali, where Keating does not seem likely to face any legal repercussions for his threats.
Saper reported Keating’s online threats to the Badung Police Precinct on Feb. 1, saying in the official complaint document that his actions have caused her to live in fear and under psychological duress.
The precinct told Coconuts on Feb. 17 that an investigation into Saper’s complaint is ongoing.
Under the 2022 Sexual Violence Crimes Law, online stalking is a crime punishable by up to four years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to IDR200 million (US$13,180).
Similarly, the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office said that the case falls under police jurisdiction, but is looking into whether or not Keating had violated the terms and conditions of his visa in Indonesia.
We have reached out to the US Consulate in Bali for comment.
“Enough was enough. I’m hoping that public pressure and collective rage will convince authorities to pay attention and act. Otherwise, these things so frequently get ignored until it’s too late. To expect me to just disappear and hide from the world, and my business, is terrible,” Saper said.
“We also know that this man is seriously mentally ill, and requires no provocation to go after me or anyone else. He imagines relationships, conversations in his head, and acts on his delusions. I’ve never provoked him from the beginning.
“I don’t deserve this. No woman does.”
