A Sydney swimming coach preyed upon the vulnerability of his young students through grooming and indecent sexual acts in the 1990s and 2000s, a jury has heard.
Paul Douglas Frost, 46, is accused of sexually abusing 11 children over 13 years while working as a coach at a swim school in Sydney’s southwest.
On Monday, crown prosecutor Darren Robinson said the Sylvania man groomed his victims by building trust, and that he normalised sexual behaviour such as masturbation by frequently bringing it up in discussions with his young pupils.
“The accused preyed on their youth, their trust, their vulnerability,” Mr Robinson said in opening submissions to the District Court jury.
Frost would routinely masturbate and perform oral sex on his students in the swim centre’s male change room and storage room, dragged his hand over his pupil’s bodies as they swam, and encouraged them to swim naked in the facility’s baby pool, Mr Robinson said.
The swim coach has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The alleged victims include 10 boys and one girl. Frost is accused of performing oral sex on the children and enticing them to do the same to him. He is also accused of penetrating his female victim with his fingers.
A trainee swim coach attending the school noticed a Frost sitting with a student on his lap while massaging the boy’s shoulders.
“Paul is a bit strange in the way he acts around the kids,” she wrote in a diary entry for that day.
Frost allegedly told one of his male students, who he had kissed on the lips, that he loved him.
“The accused told the complainant, ‘Next time I see you, I’m going to f*** you’,” Mr Robinson told the jury.
He was also claimed to have spoken openly about his student’s genitalia.
Mr Robinson said the swim coach treated those who went along with his desires favourably, giving them free lollies and allowing them access to the facility’s gym equipment. He was cold and ignored those who rejected his advances, the court heard.
On one occasion, Frost allegedly lured a boy to feel a swimsuit he was wearing saying it was the same worn by Australian swimming superstar Ian Thorpe.
When the boy touched his leg, Frost allegedly said, “That was nearly there, a little bit higher.”
Students are expected to give evidence that they complied with Frost’s instructions because he was their coach and they felt pressured into going along with what he wanted.
The hearing in front of Judge Michael King continues.
– AAP
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