Paul Frostfinalist of MasterChef Australia, was sentenced to 32 years in prison for child abuse. This Thursday, the Downing Center District Court in Sydney handed down the sentence after he spent four years in house arrest.
The court declared it guilty of having sexually abused 11 boys (ten boys and one girl), who were his students at a swimming school.
According to the verdict of Judge Sarah Huggett, Frost has to remain in prison for a minimum of 24 years for the 43 crimes committed over more than a decade, between 1996 and 2009.
The conviction includes several charges of child sexual abuse and aggravated assault on boys under 16 years of age. Her youngest victim was between nine and ten when Frost raped her for the first time.
The conviction for child abuse of the former Masterchef participant
At the hearing, Huggett described the former MasterChef participant’s crimes as “opportunistic, impulsive and spontaneous” and assured that he “deliberately created a culture that facilitated his crime.” These occurred when he was between 20 and 30 years old.
Among the manipulation strategies, it was confirmed that the swimming coach constantly talked about sex with the children and that he encouraged sexual activity between them. In court, one of the minors testified that “Paul had built a climate in which these kinds of things were normal”.
According to the testimonies of the survivors, everyone remembered him as “a great and charismatic guy” and that “he was a fairly popular teacher.” For this reason, Huggett concluded that “some felt that they were in some ways responsible of participating in something that they thought was wrong.”
On the other hand, he also reported on the “little concern” of Frost after his crimes were discovered and claims that he “continues to assert his innocence in relation to all 43 crimes.”
“He escaped justice for decades and enjoyed a life in the community free from punishment,” he added.
Paul Frost reached the final of the first series of MasterChef Australia in 2009, but he stopped working in the media to become a swimming coach. It is estimated that, if he is granted parole, he could be free as early as June 2047.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
