Surgeon Richard Paris Sackelariou to be sentenced for grooming underage girls in Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne
In an “extraordinary fall from grace”, a court has heard how a Sydney plastic surgeon paid money to underage girls to meet up with them and perform sexual acts.
Newcastle
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A once-prominent Sydney plastic surgeon, who groomed underage girls and paid them to perform sexual acts on him, has told a courtroom he was “ashamed and appalled” at the damage he had caused.
Dr Richard Paris Sackelariou, 70, of Vaucluse – a veteran surgeon of 40 years who had practices in Sydney and Melbourne – engaged with six young victims between September 2021 and October 2022 at various locations across Sydney, Newcastle and Queensland.
The court heard the Double Bay surgeon would contact the girls, aged 13 to 15, through various social platforms including Snapchat, Instagram, imessages and an adult dating website seeking arrangements, as well as sugar daddy websites.
He would then offer to pay them money for naked photos and videos before eventually asking them to meet up at hotel rooms and perform sexual acts.
The now disgraced surgeon pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including using a carriage services to procure someone under the age of 16 for sexual activity, cause child between 14 and 18 to do an act of child prostitution, possession of child abuse material, cause a child 14 and over to make child abuse material and possession or control of child abuse material using a carriage service.
In Newcastle District Court on Tuesday, Sackelariou gave evidence following two victim impacts statements, which he told the court were “horrific” to hear.
“I’m ashamed, I’m appalled at that person, myself. That I created such harm and damage,” he said.
“I can see that I’ve had psychological damage. I interposed myself during their sexual development and broken trust in older people.”
During his time in custody of just over two and a half years, the 70-year-old said he had been trying to mend his relationship with his family.
“I’ve shamed them, embarrassed them. I have betrayed my wife, broken trust with my sons,” he said.
“I have betrayed a lot of people.”
The court also heard that following numerous media articles about him, Sackelariou was fearful about being bashed by other inmates if they discovered his crimes.
Crown Prosecutor Kristy Mulley challenged Sackelariou about his attraction to underage girls.
“I engaged and pursued these girls so obviously I was attracted to them,” Sackelariou replied.
She said regardless of an “avalanche” of responses from girls who were of legal age on sugar daddy type websites, he continued to pursue underage girls.
Defence barrister Philip Strickland said his client had never offended before and led a “positive life” as a family man, but it was these “reprehensible” offences that led to “spectacular ruin”.
“Extraordinary fall from grace for a man who was a respected man in society,” he said.
“Family, friends, career, reputation gone.”
Mr Strickland said Sackelariou was very different to other offenders and the chance of him reoffending was very low.
Police facts stated the Double Bay surgeon travelled to the Hunter region on multiple occasions after arranging to meet up with three of the victims on Snapchat at Novotel Newcastle.
It was revealed one of the girls gave him oral sex in his hotel room.
It was also detailed in court documents how Sackelariou groomed a 15-year-old girl from Sydney online before he begged her to meet up and offered to pay her $1000 for sex.
When she said no, he offered her $3500 for a 30-minute meeting before the pair arranged to meet up at the Chatswood Quest apartments where he gave her repeated compliments about her body before he engaged in numerous sexual acts.
The facts also said Sackelariou met up with a 15-year-old girl in Queensland on two occasions at a park and a McDonalds after promising her money.
Sackelariou was arrested at his up-market Vaucluse home in November in 2022 where police seized electronic devices which contained a number of the messages, photos and videos he had exchanged.
Judge Tim Gartelmann reserved judgment until Friday.
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