A pedophile teacher who abused former Australian of the Year Grace Tame will not face trial on charges he harassed his former student on social media.
Nicolaas Ockert Bester, a former teacher at Hobart private schools, was convicted of sexually abusing Ms Tame when she was his student in 2011.
He was also convicted over child exploitation material in 2016.
The 73-year-old was accused of three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence in 2022, when he allegedly made public posts on social media about and directed at Ms Tame, the 2021 Australian of the Year.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges in March 2023.
But the former teacher will not face trial after Hobart magistrate Andrew McKee found Bester unfit due to mental impairment.
Bester's deteriorating health, delays to health assessments and the slow-moving court system delayed the matter for over three years.
His lawyers and prosecutors agreed in a previous court hearing there was insufficient evidence to show he was fit to stand trial and that his health was unlikely to improve.
Defence lawyer Todd Kovacic told the court his client had vascular dementia.
In that hearing, health expert and La Trobe University professor Simon Crowe said Bester faced mounting health issues, including having experienced at least three strokes, several falls, a brain clot and other issues in recent months.
Bester served one year and nine months in prison for grooming and abusing Ms Tame, then 15, while a teacher at St Michael's Collegiate school.
Prior to his 2022 charges, the Australian of the Year called out his alleged harassment of her on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Bester's case has been adjourned to April 8 for a directions hearing.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
