- John Forge, 77, was found at the base of The Cataract Gorge in Tasmania in May
A British professor was found dead in an Australian gorge just hours after he was visited by cops in a sex assault probe, it has emerged – amid revelations he had a ‘£10,000-a-month’ contract with a sex worker ‘who had to call him ‘daddy”.
Oxford University alumnus Dr John Forge, 77, was an honorary professor at the University of Sydney, but behind closed doors led a double life after an escort claims she was involved in a disturbing ‘sex contract’ with the old man.
The award-winning, multimillionaire philosophy professor was found dead at the bottom of the Cataract Gorge, in Launceston, Tasmania, just hours after a detective knocked on his door to request he attend a questioning session at the police station.
It is understood the academic was informed by police he was facing allegations he sexually assaulted a vulnerable woman, aged in her 30s, between 2019 and 2022.
Now, his alleged sugar baby escort Skylar Silverstein has spoken out about her ex-client, claiming she was embroiled in a ‘financial agreement’ with him where a strict ‘contract’ was written up.
Silverstein’s claims are separate from the other sexual assault allegations against Forge.
The claims made against Dr Forge related to alleged incidents that took place in New South Wales and Tasmania – with the esteemed ethics expert having moved from Sydney to Launceston in January 2022.
A Tasmania spokesperson confirmed Forge’s death on May 2 under circumstances that were not considered suspicious.
A note of Silverstein’s agreement has now surfaced, where Forge outlined her ‘duties to her dearest daddy John’.
It reads: ‘She will do everything she can to make her daddy happy. She will do this by being a good, obedient girl, but above all, she will love him and try to please him in any way she can. Her love is her greatest gift.’
‘Her daddy will have exclusive use of her body, to do with as he likes.
‘[She] has a right to say what she wants, but daddy decides.’
After learning of Forge’s allegations, Silverstein told Daily Mail Australia how upon reflection, their conversations were ‘creepy’.
The Sydney-based sex worker said: ‘He took advantage of the vulnerable. It makes me sick to my stomach’.
Silverstein also claimed the former professor was proud of his reputation and was skilled at hiding his true identity.
‘He seemed charming, he was well-respected in various circles academically, he was an author, he wrote so many books,’ she said.
‘But underneath, there were many skeletons in his closet that were about to be exposed.
‘It is ironic he wrote a book about the morals of weapons, but yet where was his moral obligation to this girl?’
Following his death, Forge’s alleged victim’s mother told Daily Mail Australia the detective working on the case rang her at 3pm on May 2 to say she had just attended Dr Forge’s home, having asked him to go to the police station to make a statement.
But just hours later, the woman said she received a call from police to reveal that officers had found him dead at the bottom of the gorge.
‘A member of the public found his ID, phone and keys on a pathway and phoned police, who then went and found him,’ she said.
‘It happened within an hour-and-a-half after the knock.
‘He was living a double life and it was about to be uncovered.’
The alleged victim’s mother said Dr Forge groomed her daughter and then began sexually assaulting her almost five years ago, when she was 30.
‘He was absolutely obsessed with her. It was creepy,’ she said.
‘It took a lot of guts to go to police and make her statement. [The alleged victim] has a strong sense of justice.’
While she was relieved her daughter would not have to go through a daunting court case, the news was bittersweet.
‘She said to me, ‘He is never going to have his day in court. He is never going to have to pay for what he has [allegedly] done.”
Dr Forge, who was named an honorary professor at the University of Sydney in the early 2000s, focused his research on the moral responsibilities of scientists, in particular in using and developing weapons.
His impressive list of tertiary accomplishments included stints studying at several prestigious institutions, including Oxford, Cornell and University College London.
On top of the Eureka Prize, his book, The Responsible Scientist: A Philosophical Inquiry, earned him the 2009 David Harold Tribe Philosophy Award.
According to his website, Dr Forge defined morality as ‘the way moral persons ought to behave towards others’.
‘To cause harm unnecessarily, gratuitously, is to do moral wrong,’ he wrote.
Dr Forge’s death has gone unannounced in public, except for his Facebook page being switched to a memorial template.
The University of Sydney was concerned by the allegations against Dr Forge.
‘We are deeply committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment for everyone in our community,’ a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We have a zero-tolerance policy to any form of intimidating or abusive behaviour, including sexual misconduct.
‘If any of our community experiences or witnesses such behaviour we urge them to get in touch so we can provide appropriate support and follow up.’
A report into Dr Forge’s death will be prepared for the Coroner.