Grace Tame abuser unlikely to face harassment trial
The notorious pedophile who molested former Australian of the Year Grace Tame as a child will be declared unfit to stand trial on abuse charges.
Nicolaas Ockert Bester, a former teacher at Hobart private schools, was found guilty of sexually abusing Ms Tame, who was later named Australian of the Year, while he was a student in 2011.
He was also convicted in 2016 for child exploitation material and charged in 2022 with three counts of threatening, harassing or causing an offense to a transport service.
The former teacher is alleged to have made public posts about and manipulated Ms Tame on social media in April, July and August 2022.
The latest charges have been circulating in Tasmania’s justice system for three and a half years, mainly due to Bester’s deteriorating health.
The 73-year-old man returned to Hobart Magistrates’ Court on Monday and came and went with the aid of a walking frame.
Both his lawyers and prosecutors agreed that there was insufficient evidence to show Bester was fit to stand trial and that his health was unlikely to improve.
La Trobe University professor Simon Crowe, appointed to assess the abuser’s situation, told the court he had previously been a “high-functioning individual”.
But he has suffered at least three strokes, multiple falls, brain clots and other problems in recent months.
“Mr Bester has vascular dementia as a result of the cumulative effect of falls as well as strokes,” he told the court during questioning from prosecutor Ruth Champion.
“The likelihood of coming back from this very profound set of events that affect the brain is really, really low.”
Bester’s attorney, Todd Kovacic, told the court his client “didn’t really pursue” the case.
After an administrative issue, judge Andrew McKee adjourned the matter until February 24, saying this would be “formalizing what I think we all knew was going to happen”.
Bester was released from prison in 2013 after serving a year and nine months for grooming and abusing Ms Tame, then 15, while she was teaching at Hobart’s St Michael’s Collegiate school.
Prior to the accusations in 2022, the 2021 Australian of the Year addressed Bester’s allegations of public and private online harassment on social media platform X.
“This is the reality that has been going on behind closed doors for my family and me for 12 years,” Ms Tame said.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Resolution Support Service 1800 211 028
