An American influencer is living in fear on the paradise island of Bali after an alleged online stalker has landed in Indonesia and threatened to kidnap her.
Arizona native Alexandra Saper, a travel influencer and self-empowerment coach with more than 96,000 Instagram followers, has shut down her business and gone into hiding, she told The Post.
Now she is calling out for help, which police in Indonesia are not providing, she said.
“I don’t experience fear or paranoia. I don’t have anxiety — and suddenly I’m having panic attacks, in terror of this guy watching me, following me, violating me or worse,” said Saper, 31. “I backpacked through East Africa and visited war zones on my own. This person has impacted me in a way that is foreign to me.”
The cause of her fear, she claims, is Robert James Keating, a 38-year-old former traffic management operative from Horsham, West Sussex, England.
Saper said she has reached out to police in Indonesia and the UK, as well as US and UK embassies, but nothing has happened yet. Courtsey of @thewayfaress
“He started sending me creepy texts about a year ago, so I blocked him from my Instagram. He set up new accounts to stalk me. He found my email address and sent hundreds of messages and videos threatening to kidnap me. They were also vulgar and sexually explicit. I ignored it until he arrived in Bali,” alleged Saper, who has lived in Bali for five years.
One video, seen by The Post, contains graphic details of how Keating wanted to sexually assault a “nice, innocent young girl” while forcing Saper to watch. He also said he would hold Saper in a house in Bali.
The influencer quickly blocked Keating on Instagram and, she said, reported him to the tech giant. But Keating soon created new accounts and found her email address to continue his one-way conversation, sending her hundreds of emails, Saper said.
The influencer has put her social-media business dealings on hold to stop her stalker from seeing where she is. Courtsey of @thewayfaress
On January 29, Keating arrived in Indonesia, but it was no surprise to Saper. He had sent her multiple videos and texts, also seen by The Post, showing his flight details and his visa. He even sent an image of red suitcase with a person inside, one arm hanging out of the zipper, illustrating his plan for the popular influencer.
Questioned by The Post via Instagram, Keating claimed that Saper had invited him to Bali and then ghosted him. She denies engaging with him at all. He also sent The Post the same image of the red suitcase and confirmed he had sent it to Saper as well, although he did not directly answer the question “Are you stalking Alexandra Saper?”
“Remember this will play out as a positive for me,” he wrote in reply.
Saper, who has had to put a hold on her travel-influencer business, said on Instagram last week that she has now left Indonesia.
“It is ironic since I work for women’s empowerment — everyone is asking me if I am safe. I am not safe. I was in a hotel and worried that security would leave their post and he could come my door,” said Saper, who is a qualified attorney. “I feel like … I will have a breakdown just thinking about going out.”
Within days of Keating arriving in Bali, Saper posted on a Facebook page devoted to women’s safety in Bali about her experience and that a predator had arrived in Canggu, a popular tourist destination. Many members of the platform, she said, mobilized to protect Saper and uploaded images and locations of Keating around town.
Robert James Keating is the man said to be stalking Saper.
Keating sent this image to Saper and also The Post.
“[Keating] put Insta stories about kidnapping me on his own account, [with] stories about stalking me. It’s all self-incriminating. It’s so public and black and white,” Saper said. However, no one is doing anything, apart from the vigilante women who photograph him and report sightings.”
Saper has reported Keating’s threats to Indonesian police with the support of a high-profile local campaigner, Niluh Djelantik, who fights to protect Balinese culture and all people on the island from badly behaved foreigners.
Since Keating has not physically attacked Saper, police told her that they cannot intervene, she said. Saper claimed that authorities instead sent her for psychological testing to establish proof of fear.
One of hundreds of emails Keating has sent Saper.
She said on Instagram that she has also reached out UK authorities both the US and UK embassies in Indonesia.
“The investigation is still ongoing, and that’s all I can say,” Saper said on Instagram last week.
Keating, who claims to be a self-styled “change guru” warned Saper to watch out for him and to get insurance, she said.
Saper said she has now left Indonesia, her home of five years. Courtsey of @thewayfaress
“In December it started getting more real. He emailed me a flight confirmation and said that he was coming to find me with the threat of rape and other disturbing sexual threats,” she added.
In another video shot in December, Keating claimed that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) had supported his application for an Indonesian visa indicating that he required special permission to travel overseas.
“I have moments of feeling very defeated. However, I have said from the beginning that I am not interested in hiding. I have a social influence and so many friends who are well connected,” she said. “As a trained lawyer, I have resources and despite all this I can’t even feel protected.”
Saper said has compassion for Keating but cannot excuse his behavior.
“I want him off the island, but he needs to be stopped and to get proper treatment for this delusion,” she said. “I would hate to read that he has gone home to Britain and murdered someone.”