Grace Tame, the 2021 Australian of the Year, testified at Hobart Magistrates Court regarding her childhood abuser Nicolaas Ockert Bester, who sexually abused her when she was 15 years old. After learning about disturbing social media posts allegedly made by Bester in late 2022, Tame feared for her life and considered suicide. The court heard that Bester had a 'revenge' folder containing pictures and videos of Tame, along with public Twitter messages threatening harm to her as she prepared for the release of her book.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-30,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Grace Tame, former Australian of the Year, faced severe distress after discovering disturbing social media posts allegedly directed at her from her childhood abuser, Nicolaas Ockert Bester. Bester sexually abused Tame in 2010 when she was his 15-year-old student. The court heard that Bester kept a 'revenge' folder containing images and videos of Tame on portable devices, which were uncovered during a police raid in 2022. He is charged with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and pleaded not guilty. In social media posts from his account NicoBester3, Bester referenced Tame's school email address linked to her then-Facebook profile, stating, "At last I will come for (the email address)." This led Tame to fear for her life and consider suicide, prompting her to increase security measures during her book tour.
Written for “Grace Tame Abuser Threats” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame hit rock bottom and feared for her life after learning of 'disturbing' social media posts allegedly directed at her by her childhood abuser.
uncertain
Tame → see → abuser
Ms Tame gave evidence at Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday at a special hearing for Nicolaas Ockert Bester, who sexually abused her in 2010 when she was his 15-year-old student.
asserted
she → give → 2010
The court was told Bester kept a 'revenge' folder on portable devices containing pictures and videos of Ms Tame, which was uncovered after a 2022 police raid.
asserted
which → tell → raid
Bester was charged in 2022 with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend, and pleaded not guilty.
asserted
Bester → charge → service
The 74-year-old allegedly made public posts on social media directed at Ms Tame, who was Australian of the Year in 2021, for her advocacy for survivors of sexual abuse.
uncertain
who → make → abuse
Three public Twitter messages made from the account NicoBester3 in 2022 were read to the court.
asserted
messages → make → court
All three made reference to Ms Tame's school email address, which was linked to her then-Facebook account, the main means by which Bester messaged her during the abuse.
'At last I will come for (the email address),' the first post read.
asserted
post → make → address
Grace Tame says she did not need to imagine her abuser's capacity to cause harm
Nicolaas Ockert Bester is a notorious pedophile but has been declared unfit to face trial
The second said Bester was 'coming' like Donald Trump and UK far-right figures Tommy Robinson and Milo Yiannopoulos and there was only '10 weeks to go'.
asserted
Bester → say → Trump
The third said 'here it comes!
asserted
it → say → ?
Ms Tame said she became aware of the Twitter posts incrementally and then realised the 10-week and four-week references were a countdown to the release of her book.
asserted
references → say → book
The posts took her back to the time of the abuse on the floor in his school classroom, she said.
asserted
she → take → classroom
'I was horrified, terrified and quite disturbed,' she said.
asserted
she → disturb → ?
'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.'
asserted
this → follow → me
She feared Bester's mention of her childhood email was a threat to release sexualised messaging between the pair from the time he groomed her.
asserted
he → fear → her
'I was also legitimately scared for my life,' she said, adding he had previously told her stories about killing people during his time in the army.
asserted
he → say → army
'This is a man who had psychologically tortured and repeatedly raped me.
asserted
who → torture → me
I did not need to imagine his capacity to cause harm.'
Ms Tame said she ramped up security for her nationwide book tour as a result and was close to rock bottom with thoughts of suicide.
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.
asserted
folder → need → 2017
It included an attached document with purported Facebook messages sent between Bester and Ms Tame during the 2010 abuse, Const Gillett said.
asserted
Gillett → include → abuse
If Ms Tame found out about the email in 2022, it would have been devastating, she said.
asserted
she → find → 2022
'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.
asserted
court → drive → 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.
asserted
finding → make → grounds
Bester watched the hearing via a video link from an undisclosed location.
asserted
Bester → watch → location
The former maths teacher was in 2011 sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail for abusing Ms Tame and for possessing child exploitation material.
asserted
teacher → sentence → material
He was jailed in 2016 for four months for producing child exploitation material after describing the abuse online.
asserted
He → jail → abuse
The Aporia
