A former CEO accused of stalking international model and reality TV personality Simone Holtznagel has been “vindicated” after the charges against him were dropped by police.
Benjamin Reeves appeared in Sydney Downing Centre Court on Thursday after pleading not guilty to stalking the Playboy model with the intention of causing her fear of physical or mental harm.
Police alleged the 59-year-old became obsessed with Ms. Holtznagel and repeatedly turned up uninvited at events she was attending.
He was accused of continuously stalking the 29-year-old model over nearly four months from April to July last year in Sydney’s CBD and eastern suburbs.
The former CEO of Australian Association of Graduate Employers was due to fight the charges in a hearing on Thursday, but police withdrew the charge at the last minute.
Outside court, one of Mr. Reeves’ lawyers, Osman Samin, said Mr. Reeves had been “vindicated” by the outcome.
“He’s just extremely glad that this is over now and he can move on with his life,” he said.
After the dismissal of the charges, another of his lawyers, Steven Boland, made an application in court for police to pay Mr. Reeves’ legal costs.
He argued they pursued the charges for a “significant period” when they had evidence which pointed to his client’s innocence.
Ms. Holtznagel had told police Mr. Reeves had “stared at her and made eye contact” on six occasions in the Sydney CBD and at Hotel Ravesis in Bondi.
“Every single arrow on the objective evidence points towards coincidence,” Mr. Boland said.
He said CCTV footage of the Bondi bar exposed “vast inaccuracies” in the model’s allegations of stalking.
She told police Mr. Reeves had walked very slowly past the bar window where she was sitting and had stared into the room at her.
The video, which was played in court, revealed the former CEO had walked down the street without glancing at the window at all.
“I don’t think you can imagine a less criminal act than entering a pub and walking up a staircase if you tried,” Mr. Boland said.
In another allegation, the reality TV personality claimed she saw Mr. Reeves standing “within centimetres” of her face and staring at her when she turned around at the same bar.
However, footage of that moment showed he was further away and didn’t engage with her.
“The idea that he loomed up centimetres from her face is clearly untrue,” Mr. Boland said.
“Her characterisation of what happened and whether it could constitute criminal behaviour is obviously untrue.”
He said the police had failed to properly investigate the matter and unreasonably continued to prosecute the case when the evidence was contradicted by the CCTV footage.
Mr. Boland slammed the stalking charge as “embarrassingly lacking in objective support (and) utterly incapable of succeeding”.
“You shouldn’t be able to commit stalking by accident,” he said.
Magistrate Glenn Bartley agreed there had not been “adequate scrutiny of the CCTV” when police pursued the charge.
He said Ms. Holtznagel’s evidence was “demonstrably unreliable” and the footage was “completely unsupportive” of her allegations.
“The incidents are too fleeting and too infrequent,” the magistrate said.
“They don’t arise enough out of the realm of coincidence to justify prosecution.”
He ordered police to pay Mr. Reeves’ legal costs – which totalled more than $36,000 – as compensation for the unreasonable prosecution.
The money may go some way to easing the pain for the former CEO, who was forced to leave his job when the allegations came to light.
“Unfortunately there were serious ramifications for Mr. Reeves’ employment but that will be dealt with in a separate context,” Mr. Samin said outside court.
The apprehended violence order in place to protect Ms. Holtznagel has been dismissed.
The 29-year-old has become a household name in Australia since she was a finalist in Australia’s Next top Model in 2011.
She has appeared in campaigns for beloved brands like Guess Jeans, Bras N Things, and Honey Birdette and famously modelled for Playboy in the United States.
The buxom blonde has also graced Australian TV screens with a stint on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and a recent gruelling effort on SAS Australia.
Her sister Madeline Holtznagel is also a well-known local personality who is dating hospitality baron Justin Hemmes, who is currently embroiled in his own legal battle over the alleged wage theft at his Merivale venues.
