Angelo Fernando, 46, claimed his “highly sensitive” work in the US aerospace defence industry made him a target and he feared his drink being spiked so the pre-date full-body search was necessary.
He has now been placed on the sex offenders register for five years after an Inner London Crown Court jury unanimously convicted him of sexually assaulting the drama student at the Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster Bridge Road on August 28, 2019.
In reality, tax records from that year prove Fernando, of Chifney Court, Bridle Close, Surbiton only earned £2,100 and on Friday the court heard he is £5,000 in debt and must move out of his rented flat.
Via the SeekingArrangement dating website Fernando told the woman, aged in her twenties, and known as ‘YorkshireBlonde’ that he was an economics graduate and had been a City investment banker, working in the world of private equity before establishing his own financial consultancy, specialising in defence, security and aviation.
After meeting for the first time at Waterloo Station, Fernando walked his date to the hotel, where he took her to a secluded area near a fire exit for the search, which she had consented to before meeting him.
“He said there was a search on every date he had with a female and it would be by a professional, a thorough airport-style security search. He said he didn’t have time to find anyone and would do it himself and I thought that was fine,” she told the jury.
“I thought he was some kind of spy that had a job that required you to have some sort of check. He painted a picture really well that excited me and he was someone that I’d like to meet.
“The story of what he was doing, what he did and how he had been spiked and needed this security operation just to go on a date sounded like a different world.
“There was a wet mop and bucket and cleaning sign there and anybody could have walked in, but he said it was a discreet space out of the public eye,” she explained.
“He started from the ankle up, all the way up and I felt very uncomfortable and told him to stop and he carried on with the other leg and the same thing happened again.”
She said on both occasions Fernando touched her between the legs by running his hands up under her short mini dress.
“He ran his hands down the side of my breasts and said: ‘Oh. You’re not wearing a bra,’ and then ran his hands down the front. It was a slow cupping motion.
“At the end he insinuated it was not as thorough a search as he would have liked.”
The site promised to match ‘Sugar Daddies’ with ’Sugar Babies’ but the woman denied asking Fernando for £3,000 per month. “I signed-up for the website because it sounded exciting. Maybe I went on it because I was bored.
“It was said of the site that you got taken for drinks and I guess there is a financial side to it, but I never asked for money,” she added, denying Fernando’s claim she sought funding for a vegan television project.
“I think it was a very well worked-out plan,” she told the court. “I was overwhelmed by what was going on, this guy had given me a massive story.”
Fighting back tears she added: “It was a scary situation. I thought I was going to be raped at one point.”
Prosecutor Liam Gregory told the court: “He seems to be selecting people willing to be searched and this has almost become a fetish for him, according to the pre-sentence report, rather than necessary to preserve his safety and peace of mind.
“For his own sexual pleasure he sought to search gullible women and touch them intimately,” adding there was evidence of up to twenty dates who may have been similarly frisked.
Fernando’s lawyer Paul Webb said: “For someone with almost debilitating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) what may be seen as his high-level planning was a symptom of his OCD.
“He is of good character, is well-educated and with a high-profile within his work. He is a professional man with the potential of having a good income, up to one hundred thousand pounds.”
Judge Freya Newbery sentenced Fernando to an 18-month Community Order, which includes up to 35 days of treatment and up to 30 days of a recommended activity requirement.
He must also pay a £1,000 fine, plus £3,500 costs.
“She thought the search was plausible because she thought you were a wealthy VIP-type person with safety concerns,” the judge told Fernando. “You took her into some sort of large cupboard or stairwell and thoroughly searched her over her clothes.
“You did touch her over her breasts and touched the gusset of her underwear with your hand.
“The victim was very upset about it and sat with you to try and find out more about you to report you to the police, which she did later with the assistance of the hotel staff.
“There was a significant degree of planning to assault her under the guise of a legitimate search. It was not a genuine drugs search and all of your careful planning was aimed at getting her into that large cupboard.
“I cannot make a decision about whether this was a fetish or a ritual or what was driving you to plan this very carefully. You always viewed what you carried out as normal, but you did not have consent for the contact.
“You were previously a hard-working, professional man successful in your field and there are still women in your social group who you got to know from dating and consenting to the same frisking.”
Fernando told the trial the victim only complained when he refused to give her £3,000 per month and the search was necessary after he was drugged and robbed of his watch and cash on another date.
They had a drink in the hotel bar after the search his date said she was working on a screenplay she hoped would become a sitcom.
“She said she joined the site in order to meet somebody who could provide her an allowance. Somebody who could help her fund the production of the screenplay and contribute towards her university expenses.
“Because the Masters in Acting was quite expensive she was looking for three thousand pounds a month.
“She would see me on a weekly basis in exchange for three thousand pounds a month and wanted the first instalment after the date.
“After I rebuffed that her body language changed and she became quite belligerent,” Fernando told the jury. “She was disappointed, it was written all over her face.
“She then started complaining about the search and said how uncomfortable it made her feel.
“She started scratching her leg and that made me subconsciously think: ‘Has she got drugs in her underwear?’
“I was not going to transfer three thousand pounds into the account of someone I had just met.
“She said: ‘I’m going home, this is a waste of time. She leaned in and I gave her a kiss on the cheek and she walked off and that was it.
“I thought she was flirtatious when she first sat down in the alcove. I did not think she was somebody who was mercenary.
“I was disappointed, but it is not unusual for women on that site to project one image, but whose motivations are completely different.”
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