Grace Tame Says She ‘Feared for Her Life’ Over Abuser’s Posts

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame said she reached “rock bottom” and feared for her life after discovering disturbing social media posts allegedly aimed at her by the man who abused her as a child.

Ms Tame gave evidence at Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday during a special hearing for Nicolaas Ockert Bester, who sexually abused her in 2010 while she was his 15-year-old student.

The court heard that police found a “revenge” folder containing images and videos of Ms Tame on portable devices seized during a raid in 2022.

Bester, 74, was charged in 2022 with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend. He has pleaded not guilty.

The alleged social media posts were directed at Ms Tame, who was named Australian of the Year in 2021 after becoming a prominent advocate for survivors of sexual abuse.

Three public messages posted to Twitter in 2022 from the account NicoBester3 were read to the court.

Each message referred to Ms Tame’s former school email address, which was linked to her Facebook account and had been Bester’s main way of contacting her during the abuse.

The first post stated: “At last I will come for (the email address).”

The second post mentioned Donald Trump and far-right figures Tommy Robinson and Milo Yiannopoulos, and said there were only “10 weeks to go”.

The third read: “Only four weeks to go! The good old comeuppance on its way (the email address).”

Ms Tame told the court she became aware of the posts gradually before realising the references to 10 weeks and four weeks were countdowns to the publication of her book.

She said the messages transported her back to the classroom floor where the abuse had taken place.

“I was horrified, terrified and quite disturbed,” she said.

“To me this was a signal of a very real commitment to follow through with some kind of public-facing plan to inflict harm upon me.”

Ms Tame said she believed Bester’s reference to her childhood email address could be a threat to publish sexualised messages exchanged while he was grooming her.

“I was also legitimately scared for my life,” she said, adding that Bester had previously told her stories about killing people during his army service.

“This is a man who had psychologically tortured and repeatedly raped me. I did not need to imagine his capacity to cause harm.”

Ms Tame said she increased security during her nationwide book tour as a result of the posts and was close to reaching rock bottom.

Tasmania Police constable Declan Gillett told the court a folder of media coverage of Ms Tame in a folder named ‘wraak’ – Afrikaans for revenge – was found on Bester’s portable hard drives.

There was also an outgoing email from Bester’s email account to men’s rights activist and former sex therapist Bettina Arndt sent in 2017.

It included an attached document with purported Facebook messages sent between Bester and Ms Tame during the 2010 abuse, Const Gillett said.

If Ms Tame found out about the email in 2022, it would have been devastating, she said. 

‘Worst-case scenario, it would have driven me towards the end.’

Bester, who the court was previously told has dementia, was in February deemed unfit to stand trial for medical reasons.

In a special hearing, the court can make a finding of not guilty, not guilty on mental health grounds or that a finding of not guilty cannot be made.

A guilty verdict is not available.

Bester watched the hearing via a video link from an undisclosed location. 

The former maths teacher was in 2011 sentenced to two years and ten months in jail for abusing Ms Tame and for possessing child exploitation material.

He was jailed in 2016 for four months for producing child exploitation material after describing the abuse online. 

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

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