MasterChef Australia ex-finalist Paul Frost gets 24 years in jail for child sexual abuse

Paul Douglas Frost, ex-MasterChef Australia finalist, received a minimum 24-year prison term for child sexual offences while working as a swim coach in Sydney, Australia. 

He reached the finals of MasterChef Australia in 2009.

What

• As per the New York Post, Paul Frost, 48, was given the sentence on Thursday, November 17, more than four years after he was arrested. 
• Frost was found guilty of 43 offences over the abuse of 11 children at a swimming school in Sydney’s southwest between 1990s and 2000s. He was found guilty of abusing 10 boys and one girl. 
• Following this, he was arrested in September 2019 at his residence in Sylvania.

What did Judge Sarah Huggett say

• At Sydney's Downing Centre District Court, Judge Sarah Huggett imposed a maximum term of 32 years, noting that Paul Frost's crimes spanned over a decade and involved children who were as young as 10 years old. 
• On November 16, Judge Sarah Huggett said Paul Frost purposely created a culture that facilitated the crime, including normalising talk of sex among those he was teaching, and he was also encouraging sexual activity both with and between students and engaging in graphic acts in the school's changing room and storage room, reported New York Post.
• The youngest victim was nine or 10 years old when the abuse began, while the oldest was molested until the age of 16.
• Judge Sarah Huggett stated that Frost had shown no remorse for his actions, she further said, "There is no evidence that would permit me to find on balance that he is contrite or remorseful." She also said that Frost’s crimes as "opportunistic, impulsive, and spontaneous" creating an environment that normalised explicit discussions.
• Victims' accounts outlined Frost's manipulation, fostering explicit conversations about sexuality and masturbation, ultimately culminating in inappropriate physical contact.
• Judge Huggett noted that a significant number of victims were either unaware that Frost's actions were wrong or were concerned about not being believed if they came forward.