A man, who raped a woman during a terrifying three-hour ordeal in which she was forced to jump out of a moving car, has begged to apologise to his victim during a dramatic outburst in court.
Paul Sargon Kelaita, 50, appeared in Gosford District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to raping and kidnapping a sex worker in November 2023 before leading police on a dramatic chase through Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Kelaita had originally pleaded not guilty before dramatically changing his pleas halfway through his trial in October last year.
He pleaded guilty to ten charges over the ordeal, including three counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of sexual touching without consent, one count of taking someone with the intention to cause fear and two counts of intimidation.
Ahead of his sentencing next week, Kelaita appeared at a hearing via AVL from Parklea Jail, where he begged to see and apologise to the victim.
“I need to see her. Is she still in court?” he told the court while he was being cross-examined by the Crown prosecutor.
“I can’t express my sympathies to you. You’re not [the victim].
“I shouldn’t have done that. And I’m sorry for it.”
The Crown prosecutor responded: “That’s because you’d like to see her again, isn’t it?”
Kelaita told the court the victim could just “listen” to his apology via AVL.
“Is she listening now? I’ll talk to her right now. I don’t need to see her,” he told the court.
Court documents obtained by news.com.au detailed how Kelaita hired the woman in October 2023 for a consensual encounter before he messaged the sex worker multiple times on different phones.
He then arranged to meet the woman at a hotel room in The Entrance, on the NSW Central Coast, by pretending to be a new customer.
The woman arrived to the room to find flower petals on the floor leading to the bed and a bunch of roses on the bed with a multi-coloured dress.
Kelaita came out of the shower, with the woman realising who it was.
She told him,“What you did is illegal and if you contact me again, I will call the police” before leaving the room.
Two weeks later, Kelaita used yet another phone number to arrange a meet-up with the woman at a granny flat in Killarney Vale.
Concerned it may again be Kelaita, the woman asked him to send ID. Kelaita then sent her a license that was not his.
The woman arrived at the Killarney Vale granny flat, where Kelaita ran at the woman and pulled her inside while holding his hand over her mouth and nose.
The woman screamed as he yelled: “Shut up, shut up, shut up.”
After pulling her inside, Kelaita spent hours raping the woman before brushing her hair and asking her to “watch TikToks” with him.
After about three hours, the victim managed to get to her phone and quickly ring triple-0, telling them her address.
Kelaita then told the woman they had to leave, fearing someone was “coming”.
Kelaita made the woman drive them in her Land Rover before she managed to jump out of the moving car.
A witness saw the woman and called police.
During Friday’s hearing, Kelaita told the court that he had learnt from his mistakes and that he was ultimately trying to “help” the victim.
NSW District Court David Wilson SC told the court he was concerned that Kelaita had a “complete lack of insight into his offending”.
“My impression of your client’s offending is that he felt a very unhealthy obsession with the victim,” Judge Wilson said.
“I don’t think your client has demonstrated any remorse.
“In his evidence … he appears to me to be blaming the victim.”
Kelaita is set to be sentenced on March 27.
Terrifying texts after kidnapping
In the week after the rape, Kelaita sent several Instagram messages from various Instagram accounts to his victim, court documents revealed.
At this stage, police were attempting to locate Kelaita with no success.
Two days after the rape on November 15, he sent “What a wild night lol” before sending “I’d rather die than hurt you” the next day.
On November 18, Kelaita texted her saying: “Are you good? If you message me around once a month, I promise I won’t come looking for you” before telling her the next day: “Looks like you want me to find you.”
On November 20, he asked: “What did you say to the cops?” before being arrested two days later.
Wild arrest
Court documents reveal how Kelaita was finally arrested on November 22 during a wild arrest which brought Sydney’s eastern suburbs to a standstill.
Police received information that Kelaita was staying at the Adina Apartments in Bondi Beach.
Detectives attended his room with Kelaita jumping off a second-storey balcony.
Multiple police units, a dog squad and pol air were brought in as he jumped a number of fences in Bondi before being arrested in a backyard.
