Swim coach Paul Frost in court on child sex charges

A MasterChef finalist and former swim coach faced court on a staggering amount of child sex charges, allegedly against 14 boys and one girl.

A MasterChef finalist and son of renowned swim coach Doug Frost, who once trained Olympian Ian Thorpe, is now facing more than 100 charges relating to child sex abuse.

Paul Douglas Frost appeared at Bankstown Local Court this morning for a brief committal hearing.

Looking business casual in black sunglasses, a blue blazer and brown pants, he listened from the back of the court as the public prosecutor said the sheer amount of charges meant they were seeking eight weeks to produce a charge certificate.

The former swim coach, who is alleged to have abused some children while he was working at his father’s now closed swimming school, appeared at court without his wife Ivana who is a senior executive at the Australian arm of furniture chain Ikea.

The 44-year-old – who appeared in the first season of MasterChef in 2009 – rushed to a waiting car after leaving the court complex in Sydney’s south west.

Mr Frost has now been charged with 101 offences. These include 13 aggravated sexual assault charges with a victim under 16; 43 for aggravated indecency or incite aggravated indecency with a victim under 16; 33 aggravated indecent assault with a victim under the age of 16 and two charges of grooming a child under 14 years.

He was arrested at his Sylvania, in Sydney’s south, in September when he was charged with 10 alleged offences against two boys, including aggravated sexual assault of a child under 16 and aggravated indecent assault of a child under 16.

Mr Frost spent a week behind bars following has arrest but has been on bail since. In October, he had a bail condition varied so he could travel near an international airport, while still being prohibited from entering one. His other bail conditions include restrictions on leaving his home in southern Sydney.

The number of charges against Mr Frost has steadily increased, including a batch more in December. He is alleged to have abused 15 victims, 14 of which were boys and one girl.

Bankstown detectives began investigating Mr Frost in August after two men alleged they had been assaulted between 1997 and 2001, when they were aged between 11 and 16.

The alleged assaults occurred when he was a coach at the Doug Frost Swim School in Padstow, in southwestern Sydney.

Paul Frost leaves court after an earlier appearance.

It’s the same pool where five time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe once trained, but which has since closed down.

One of the boys was said to have suffered abuse from the age of 11 until 15.

Earlier court documents seen by news.com.au detailed many of the allegations that Mr Frost now faces including sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated indecent assault.

In the documents he is alleged to have induced a boy to take his shorts down and committed sex acts without consent. He is also said to have plied another child with alcohol to make sexual activity easier.

In documents filed at Sutherland Local Court last year, his wife Ivana expressed her “shock and disbelief” at the allegations.

In an affidavit Ms Frost pleaded for her husband to be freed on bail while awaiting trial.

“I am in shock and utter disbelief at the charges brought against Paul,” Ms Frost stated.

She said her “loyal and caring husband” had a “gentle personality”.

In September, Mr Frost’s solicitor Sebastian DeBrennan had said there was no CCTV, email or phone evidence of the alleged assaults.

He also questioned why the now adults had come forward more than a decade, in some cases far longer, after the assaults were alleged to have occurred and said that length of time meant there was a “possibility of concoction or contamination”.

However, at the time Magistrate Chris McRobert said the lack of CCTV didn’t diminish the overall strength of the case

Mr Frost will face court again on March 11 at Burwood, in Sydney’s inner west.