Aussie sailor, advisor to Finland, fights to change plea after allegedly removing condom with herpes
A renowned Aussie sailor who allegedly failed to tell a woman he had genital herpes before non-consensually taking off his condom has told a court he now wants to fight the charges.
EXCLUSIVE
A Sydney to Hobart sailor, who allegedly failed to tell a woman he had genital herpes before unconsensually taking his condom off midway through sex, has claimed in court that he was pressured into pleading guilty by his former lawyers and now wishes to defend the charge.
Anssi Paatero, 39, was set to be sentenced in the NSW District Court on August 1 after pleading guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
Instead of being sentenced, Paatero fired his lawyers and applied to withdraw his guilty plea at the 11th hour.
In June, the court heard how Paatero allegedly had sex with the woman aged in her 30s after attending a function at a Sydney sailing club and took the condom off midway “as he couldn’t feel anything”.
Taking a condom off midway through sex without consent is an illegal act known as stealthing.
Two days later, he also told the woman, for the first time, that he had genital herpes and that she would need to get tested.
Paatero has argued that the incident was a “miscommunication” and that he asked the woman if he could “finish inside her”, to which she agreed; however, the woman believed he meant with the condom on.
On Friday, Mr Paatero appeared in the NSW District Court for a hearing on the application and was cross-examined by his new lawyer, Jehane Ghabrial.
Paatero detailed how he was “strongly advised” to enter a guilty “plea of convenience” in April 2025 and that he was told he would be “inevitably” convicted by a jury if it went to trial.
He told the court that he did “not understand” that entering a plea of guilty would be admitting he knew the alleged victim was not consenting during the incident.
Paatero also said his former counsel originally had floated the idea of applying for a judge-only trial; however, he was not given “instructions” on how that would proceed.
District Court Judge William Fitzsimmons stood the case over for another hearing day on November 20, where Paatero’s former lawyers will be cross-examined.
Judge Fitzsimmons said his former lawyers had a right to defend their “professional integrity” due to Paatero’s claim that there was a “defect in the taking of instructions”.
Sydney to Hobart sailor
Paatero has raced in multiple high-profile Australian sailing events, including several Sydney to Hobarts.
Prior to his sentencing hearing in June, Paatero was also the vice-president of the Finland Australia Chamber Of Commerce – an organisation which advises on trade and business between the two nations.
He has since resigned from the organisation.
The court previously heard how, after leaving the function, the alleged victim asked Paatero if he had condoms on him at about 1am before buying some herself at a local convenience store.
Court documents state that while the pair were in the taxi back to her house, she gave the condoms to the offender, saying: “Here I bought these. You take them.”
“During the sexual intercourse and while they were on the bed, the offender said to the woman: Can I finish inside you? Meaning could he ejaculate inside her. They agreed, assuming he still had the condom on,” the court documents stated.
“As the offender ejaculated, the [alleged] victim realised that the accused was not wearing a condom as she could feel him ejaculate inside her vagina. She asked him where the condom was. The offender replied: “I removed it. I couldn’t feel anything.”
The next day, the alleged victim messaged the offender, stating: “I will say I thought a lot about needing to get tested today. Won’t lie, very unhappy about that.”
According to the court documents, Paatero asked if he could cook her a “semi-apologetic dinner” later that week before sharing some websites with her about testing clinics in the area.
“Appreciate the research,” the woman responded.
“I’ll just go to (a) regular doctor.”
Woman learns about ‘stealthing’ offence
Two days after the incident, the alleged victim spoke to a female friend, who told her it was a criminal offence, court documents state.
The alleged victim attended her GP to be tested and Googled “removing condom during sex” on the internet and became aware of “stealthing”.
The alleged victim then texted Paatero a Wikipedia page about stealthing.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything, but it’s a really sh** thing to do. My point is … don’t do it to anyone,” she wrote.
According to the documents, Paatero replied: “Thank you for sharing this with me. All that is now well acknowledged with a shock.
“While apologies are in order from me to you, I would like an opportunity to discuss in person about shared responsibility, as I trust neither of us wants (to) actively work towards destroying a promising future after we shared also positive experiences together.
“I remember you saying you’re pro no-drama. Please let me know.”
The alleged victim responded: “Cannot lie, I feel super sh**ty about this. I am sorry.”
The documents detailed how Paatero said, “That’s a mature response. I see no reason to discuss further. Just thought I should educate you. I have to wait 6 weeks for blood tests. You’ll hear from me if I have anything to share.”
The pair then spoke on the phone, where the alleged victim stated: “It is an offence you can’t be doing this to people. If you do it to someone else. They will report you.”
Paatero then told her about his genital herpes.
“Since you were honest with me, I’ll be honest with you,” he said on the phone, the documents said.
“You know how people get cold sores? Well, I have it down there.”
The alleged victim responded: “Are you freaking kidding me, you’re telling me that you have genital herpes and you removed the condom knowing you have it?”
Paatero told her there was “so much stigma” behind the disease.
“People live with it and have happy lives,” he told her.
The alleged victim ended the phone call, and Paatero messaged her.
“Hi. Tried to call you back. Dear God, I feel terrible,” Paatero wrote.
The alleged victim told him she felt “literally sick”.
“I am truly sorry, and I now fear for my life,” Paatero told her.
The alleged victim told him what he had done was “completely f**ked up”.
“You realise you will change my life if you’ve give me that,” she said.
The alleged victim then reported the matter to the police.
Get in touch with our reporter sarah.keoghan@news.com.au
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Originally published as Aussie sailor, advisor to Finland, fights to change plea after allegedly removing condom with herpes
