Richard Sackelariou: Eastern suburbs plastic surgeon charged with child sex offences

A highly sought-after plastic surgeon has been accused of travelling to pay teen girls – who he allegedly groomed on Snapchat – for sex in hotel rooms. Read the shocking allegations.

Specialist plastic surgeon, Dr Richard Paris Sackelariou,has been charged with two counts of intentional sexual touching of a child and two counts of compelling a child to take part in pornography.

A “highly sought-after” eastern suburbs plastic surgeon — with practices in Sydney and Melbourne — has been charged over a series of child abuse allegations.

Specialist plastic surgeon, Dr Richard Paris Sackelariou appeared at Waverley Local Court on Friday afternoon after he was charged with two counts of intentional sexual touching of a child and two counts of compelling a child to take part in pornography.

The court heard the 68-year-old had allegedly travelled to the Newcastle region on multiple occasions to pay multiple girls between the ages of 13 and 17 to undertake sexual acts on him.

Police alleged in court the Vaucluse man, who has practiced medicine for more than 40 years, travelled multiple times to Newcastle where he booked hotel rooms to perform sexual acts on the complainants.

The court heard Sackelariou allegedly used the instant messaging service Snapchat, where he contacted the children under the alias “Alexandre Oret” and groomed them, including promising payment for their meetings.

The 68-year-old was refused bail.

Dr Sackelariou’s wife appeared in court during her husband’s first appearance, however, did not make eye contact with him throughout the proceedings.

The plastic surgeon’s laywer Andrew O’Brien told the court Dr Sackelariou had lived in the eastern suburbs for 20 years and had “strong ties to the community”.

Mr O’Brien described his client as a medical practitioner specialising in “reconstructive” surgery.

He argued his client’s threat to the community could be mitigated through strict bail conditions including that he reside at one address, not be allowed to visit Newcastle and only have one mobile phone without access to messaging apps.

Beyond bail, Mr O’Brien told the court his client had a responsibility to his clients booked in for surgery.

“The applicant does not pose an unacceptable risk,” Mr O’Brien said. “He needs to be free both to support his family and to provide medical services.”

But Magistrate Hudson rejected the argument outright, telling the court the surety was likely “a week’s worth of cash” to the surgeon.

The magistrate said Sackelariou had the capacity to leave the jurisdiction and now had a motive too. Magistrate Hudson also said there was also an incentive for Sackelariou to “pay off” the complainants while on bail.

Police prosecutor Cummings told the court the surgeon should not be granted bail, citing a plethora of evidence including CCTV footage, Snapchat messages, hotel records and credit card records which he said would likely lead to a conviction and lengthy prison sentence.

Mr Cummings also noted the details of the “very, very disturbing” allegations provided by four “child witnesses” who would be able to provide evidence and that those complainants reported a scar on the stomach of Sackelariou that could identify him.

“He will receive a lengthy jail sentence that will outweigh any time he will spend in remand,” Mr Cummings said.

Magistrate Ross Hudson told the court the facts state Sackelariou used Snapchat to contact the individuals after which “sexual acts were paid for and conducted”.

“The children would receive half of the money upfront and half later,” Magistrate Hudson said.

Police allege in one instance, Sackelariou brought two children to a hotel where he sat between them and kissed them, and told one of the children he would give her money to perform oral sex on him, which she refused at the time.

The magistrate told the court Sackelariou allegedly showed “a propensity to groom children”.

On another occasion, police allege Sackelariou brought children to Sydney by train where they stayed at an apartment and received money pre-prepared in separate envelopes.

It is alleged the surgeon “would give them money after the sexual act was performed”, Magistrate Hudson said.

The eastern suburbs-based plastic surgeon’s website describes him as a “highly sought-after plastic Surgeon for precision procedures like nose reshaping, tummy tucks and breast surgery”.

“This includes trans axillary incision methods, breast implant removal or replacement and Breast Lift procedures,” the website states.

“He is particularly known for his signature surgeries – neck lift, facelift and eyelid rejuvenation procedures. He also performs expert breast implant revision surgery.

“Patients love his caring manner, his dedication to excellence and his extensive expertise in surgical planning for a natural-looking, harmonious result.”

The 68-year-old was refused bail, despite offers of a $40,000 surety from his wife.