A finalist of the popular cooking show MasterChef Australia, who had sexually abused 11 children he coached at a swimming school, has been sent to prison for a minimum of 24 years.

Paul Douglas Frost, 48, was sentenced on Thursday (November 16, 2023) four years after he was arrested.

Judge Sarah Huggett sentenced Frost - who starred on the Network Ten show's first season - to a maximum term of 32 years for committing 43 offences over more than a decade against children as young as 10, reported Daily Mail.

Judge Huggett said Frost was sexually attracted to pubescent children and his offending was marked by its 'escalating gravity and brazenness'. 

"He moved from one victim to the next as and when he so desired," she was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

On June 14, Frost was found guilty of sexually abusing 11 former swimming students which included 10 boys and one girl in the 1990s and 2000s.

The youngest victim was aged nine or ten at the time of the abuse.

The oldest was 16 years old at the time of abuse.

Frost’s earliest possible release date is June 3, 2047, reports news.com.au.