A TikTok creator who used her looks to lure a Saudi Arabian royal into a terrifying kidnapping and robbery ordeal has avoided jail in Victoria County Court.
Catherine Colivas, 24, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, extortion, reckless injury, robbery and weapons possession for the brutal attack on her 23-year-old victim in February last year.
The maximum sentence for kidnapping in Victoria is 25 years, but on Monday Judge Nola Karapanagiotidis allowed him to walk free thanks to a community corrections order.
His co-accused, Paris Kennedy, 22, was also released on good behavior bail after already spending 90 days behind bars following her arrest last year.
He had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of theft and burglary.
The court heard his victim was forced to pay $40,000 in Bitcoin after meeting Colivas when they met on a dating app.
Trash: Catherine Colivas (right) leaves Victoria County Court on Monday
Partners in crime: Paris Kennedy (left) and Catherine Colivas (right)
Colivas is the sister of convicted felon Andrew Colivas, who died in August of a suspected drug overdose in Vietnam.
The court heard she treated her date to drinks in Highett and dinner in Cheltenham before he took her home.
But as he walked Colivas to his door, he was attacked by three men, including Colivas’s drug-dealing boyfriend.
The victim then endured a nightmarish ordeal at their hands after they tied him up with zip ties and threatened him at knifepoint.
Judge Karapanagiotidis said the men threatened to cut off the man’s fingers if he did not hand over $20,000 in cash.
The court heard that the man, who sold Rolex watches and traded cryptocurrencies, could only offer Bitcoin, which he had transferred through a friend whom he was forced to phone for help.
The social media influencers then took the keys to his house and drove there in the middle of the night to ransack his property.
The court heard Colivas and Kennedy took designer clothes, a Louis Vutton bag, a Playstation 5 and several iPhones before finally freeing the man, who immediately went to police.
He spent the night in the hospital with injuries to his wrists and head.
Paris Kennedy, 22, right, is chased by reporters as she leaves Victoria County Court on Monday.
Colivas had nothing to say when questioned outside court on Monday.
Judge Karapanagiotidis said Colivas was instrumental in the evil plot.
“You were either a decoy or a bait,” he said. “You played a crucial role.”
But the judge ruled that Colivas had proven “exceptional circumstances,” which was required by law to keep her out of prison on the 30-month community corrections order.
Those reasons included her youth, her education, her fragile mental health, her prospects for rehabilitation, and the fact that her criminal brother had died while she was awaiting justice.
Andrés Colivas, 25 and VIncent Satuala Atulia, 24, was on holiday with friends in Southeast Asia when they died unexpectedly.
Court records obtained by Daily Mail Australia showed Atulia had been ordered to appear in court 78 times since 2019, while Colivas had 12 court appearances dating back to 2021.
His death devastated Colivas, a hairdresser and beautician, who now visited his grave three times a week.
“I accept that it was a shocking experience for you,” Judge Karapanagiotidis said.
The court heard Kennedy, originally from Sydney, had a similar history of childhood difficulties.
Andrew Colivas’ sister (right) said her ‘heart hurt’ at a tribute to her brother (left) in August
The cosmetic tattoo artist had already been serving a community corrections order she received in New South Wales for a violent fight.
Judge Karapanagiotidis accepted that Kennedy had shown remorse with a sincere apology to the court and his victim, stating that she was “truly sorry”.
Both women beamed with joy knowing that they would be allowed to leave the court free. The couple declined to speak to a media group waiting outside the courthouse.