Richard Paris Sackelariou: $700,000 bail surety refused for Double Bay plastic surgeon

A surgeon charged with child sex abuse now faces 14 more charges, while his defence team have offered an eye-watering $700,000 in bail surety to have him released.

Sackelariou was refused bail at Waverley Local Court.

A “whopping” $500k increase in surety was not enough for a magistrate to grant bail to a eastern suburbs plastic surgeon after he was charged with multiple counts of child sex abuse.

Veteran surgeon of 40 years Richard Paris Sackelariou originally faced 17 charges – including child sex abuse – and was served four AVOs, after he was arrested at his Vaucluse home on November 4.

During a bail application for the Double Bay plastic surgeon on Monday, the court heard a further 14 charges had been lodged against him bringing the total number of allegations to 31.

Sackelariou, 68, appeared at Waverley Local Court, his solicitor argued new material set before the court about the surgeon’s poor health and stricter bail conditions were sufficient to grant him bail.

Mr Sackelariou’s lawyer, assisted by Amanda Pappas, told the court a group of supporters including his wife, brother, and Jeffrey Leigh, had increased the surety sum to an eye-watering $700,000 to secure the eastern suburbs man’s bail.

Specialist plastic surgeon Richard Paris Sackelariou has been charged with 31 offences including intentional sexual touching of a child.

The court also heard a $1.25m property could be put up as surety.

His lawyers argued new bail conditions including wearing an electronic tracking bracelet, along with the increased surety, would to address concerns around community protection and ensure Sackelariou would appear at court.

Previously the court had refused bail on the proposed conditions he reside at one address, not be allowed to visit Newcastle and only have one mobile phone without access to messaging apps.

Sackelariou’s lawyer said his client suffered from “serious and life-threatening conditions” including glaucoma and diverticulitis, an intestinal swelling condition, which required him to be released to seek treatment.

The lawyer also said that his client additionally suffered from mental health conditions that could not be managed from jail.

Sackelariou’s application for bail was refused.

The police prosecutor said the “whopping amount” of $700,000 in surety brought to the court did not reflect a change in circumstances and therefore did not meet the threshold to reconsider bail.

“It’s not as if the money wasn’t there, it was there,” the police prosecutor said.

The prosecutor also noted mental health issues had not been mentioned previously at court and there was no evidence Justice Health had refused to treat Sackelariou.

But Sackelariou’s lawyer said there was nothing “uncommon”, “sinister” or “improper” about the inflated surety because it was a sum that could not be accessed within the short time frame between the time the surgeon was arrested and appeared at court.

Magistrate Ross Hudson agreed that increased surety did not necessarily reflect materially changed circumstances and said he did not trust third parties like the manufacturer of electronic bracelets to secure accused persons.

Considering the 10 to 15-year prison sentence attached to the charges and the serious nature of the alleged crimes, the exorbitant sum and stricter conditions would not protect the community, the magistrate said.

Charges laid include using a carriage services to procure someone under the age of 16 for sexual activity, cause child older than 14 and younger than 18 to do act of child prostitution, intentionally sexually touch child older than 10 and younger than 16 and have sexual intercourse with child older than ten and younger than 14.

Police alleged in court the 68-year-old had travelled to the Newcastle region on several occasions to pay multiple girls between the ages of 13 and 17 to undertake sexual acts on him.

Magistrate Hudson said he had considered the “seriousness of the charges and the vast nature of the charges” in his ruling.

Magistrate Hudson refused bail and ordered the matter be next heard at Newcastle Local Court on January 17.