Melbourne Man Pleads Guilty in Seeking-Linked Consent Case

Nektario Zafiratos, 53, pleaded guilty in Victoria’s County Court to procuring a sexual act by fraud after a 2023 meeting arranged through Seeking. The case turned on specific conditions that a 23-year-old university student had set before the encounter, including condom use and agreed financial terms. Using the profile name “Respectable D,” Zafiratos offered A$1,000 for companionship after meeting the student on Seeking.

The student booked a room at Melbourne’s W Hotel after being told she would be reimbursed. Reporting says Zafiratos also promised a Rolex and assistance with her £50,000 student debt. The prosecution case said he engaged in unprotected sex despite the prior condom agreement and used false financial promises to obtain further sexual activity. The woman reported the matter after he failed to provide promised payments and sexual-health test results. She later described lasting trauma and isolation in a victim-impact statement; sentencing was scheduled for a later date.

Consent applies to the agreed act and conditions, not merely to entering a hotel room or accepting a financial arrangement. Removing a condom condition, changing the act or relying on a promise known to be false can fundamentally change what was agreed. Platforms should make conditional consent explicit and preserve messages that document terms. The guilty plea establishes the offense reported here, but sentencing had not occurred at publication. The summary avoids treating unrelated allegations or earlier reporting as proven facts in this case.