MasterChef finalist Paul Douglas Frost convicted of 43 charges of child abuse

On Wednesday afternoon, Paul Douglas Frost, a former swim coach and one-time contestant on MasterChef Australia, was found guilty of 43 charges of child sexual abuse.

These charges relate to 11 children who were Frost's former students at a swimming school situated in Sydney's southwest. The abuse took place during the 1990s and 2000s.

Before reaching the verdict of guilty on all counts, the NSW District Court jury was informed that it could deliver majority verdicts. 

Frost was found guilty of 43 charges, which included sexual intercourse with a child under his authority or care, multiple charges of aggravated indecent assaults of a person under 16, and grooming children for sexual activity.

The jury took only 10 minutes to announce the numerous verdicts.

After the conviction, Judge Sarah Huggett notified Frost that he had been found guilty of the offenses. The Crown made a detention application, and although Frost's lawyers did not oppose it, he was handcuffed and taken into custody. Bail was refused.

In a prior trial, the jury was discharged without a verdict after 16 days due to allegations of bullying and refusal to deliberate, which the judge was concerned would affect the outcome.

Frost, who was a finalist on the cooking competition show MasterChef in 2009, comes from a family with a background in swimming: his father coached Olympic champion Ian Thorpe.