32 year jail sentence for Sydney swimming teacher over child sexual abuse

Sydney swimming teacher Paul Frost has been sentenced to a 32 year prison term after being found guilty of grooming and sexually abusing 11 young students over more than a decade.

The 48-year-old, who was a schoolteacher at the time of his arrest, abused the students while he owned and operated the Doug Frost Swim School in Padstow in southwest Sydney between 1996 and 2009.

The son of Olympian Ian Thorpe’s trainer, Frost was today sentenced at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court having been found guilty of 43 charges in June.

Watching via video link from Shortland prison, Frost heard Judge Sarah Huggett advise that he deliberately created a culture that facilitated his offending.

This included normalising talk of sex among those he was teaching, encouraging sexual activity both with and between students, and engaging in graphic acts in the school’s changing room and storage room.

The 32 year prison term handed down to Frost, who was once a contestant on the cooking show MasterChef, represents a maximum sentence, expiring in June 2055.

He will be first eligible for parole in June 2047 after 24 years behind bars.

During his offending, Frost commented on one young student’s “bubble butt”, encouraged another to watch the sexually explicit TV show Sex Life and openly talked about the size of a boy’s genitalia.

He also encouraged one student to watch pornography on his office computer and “skinny dipped” with others at the swim centre.

While working as a primary school teacher, Frost was arrested in September 2019 at his Sylvania home.

The 43 charges include several counts of sexual intercourse with a child under his care, multiple charges of aggravated indecent assault of a person under 16 and grooming children for sexual activity.

Frost manipulated his victims and contrived opportunities for him to be alone with them.

Judge Huggett stated that "he moved from one victim to the next as and when he so desired and in doing so corrupted their healthy and normal sexual development."

She found each victim was a reliable witness who gave evidence in court with “dignity and courage”, adding "it can only be hoped that the finalisation of the proceedings can offer some form of closure to each of the victims of these offences.”

Huggett found Frost had taken no steps to rehabilitate himself and that his prospects of doing so were “presently very guarded”.

Frost had requested protection in custody after being punched by an inmate in July and requiring surgery to a broken bone under his eye.

He has since been diagnosed with paedophilic disorder, a major depressive disorder with increased risk of self-harm, and generalised anxiety disorder.

Image: Paul Frost, via LinkedIn.