This is the upmarket Sydney home that once belonged to a cocaine-loving British morality professor who died while facing a sex assault probe.
Dr John Forge, 77, who was a multi-millionaire and was respected across the globe for his work on human morality and ethics, plunged to his death at Cataract Gorge, Launceston, on May 2 this year.
Since then, it has emerged the professor had been leading a double life that was about to be exposed. He was facing sexual assault allegations in Australia, and died just hours after being visited by a detective over the accusations.
The Oxford University alumnus, who was an honorary professor at the University of Sydney, inherited a vast fortune as an only child that allowed him to purchase the town house in 2005, and later pursue his hidden life of sex and drugs.
This has come as a shock to his former neighbours in the upmarket streets of Balmain East, just a stone’s throw from breathtaking views of Sydney Harbour Bridge.
They told MailOnline that Forge was unrecognisable from the bespectacled academic they once knew – and were shocked to find out about his double life.
This is the upmarket Sydney home that once belonged to a cocaine-loving British morality professor John Forge, who died this year while facing a sex assault probe
Dr John Forge employed Melbourne-based sex worker Skylar Silverstein from January to October last year on a $20,000-a-month contract (the pair are pictured together)
Left: Dr John Forge is seen taking a hit from a bong and right, he is seen lining up white powder in a video that shows him doing cocaine
One neighbour said the man they lived next door to was a far cry from the wild-eyed drug and sex fiend who was photographed and filmed in his later years.
‘He was a professor in maths and philosophy,’ said the local resident who declined to be named. ‘He actually gave me one of his textbooks – it something to do with Set Theory. Unfortunately I think I gave it away years ago.
‘But the man pictured here is not the man I knew. I don’t even recognise his body language in these pictures. I can’t believe it’s the same person. That’s not how I remember him at all.
‘His behaviour doesn’t sound anything like the man who lived here.’
Others in the street had no memory of him either.
‘It’s a very quiet street and I’ve had the same neighbour for 40 years, but his picture doesn’t ring any bells for me,’ said another.
‘We may not know each other’s names but we’re all very friendly will say hello to each other when we walk up to the bus stop, the shops or the ferry.
‘But I don’t recall seeing him.’
The suburb was originally home to stevedores and dockers but later became a bolthole for the city’s bohemian literati, where Forge bought a four-bedroom terraced home in 2005 for AU$1.76million which he later almost doubled his money on when he sold up 11 years later in 2016 for a round $3million.
The luxurious white Queen Anne terraces were described by estate agents as ‘historic slices of the Peninsula’. The house featured high ceilings, a stained glass and sky-lit timber stairwell, undercover balconies and a garden.
In his professional circles, Forge was well respected and known in academic circles across the glove.
His research garnered him numerous honours and accolades, including the 2010 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Research in Ethics and a teaching position at the Ivy League university, Cornell. He also featured in interviews on ABC programs, including Late Night Live and The Philosopher’s Zone.
But Melbourne-based sex worker Skylar Silverstein has said she has very different memories of the professor.
Forge employed Silverstein from January to October last year on a £10,000-a-month contract. It stipulated she call him ‘Daddy’ and granted him ‘exclusive use of her body to do as he likes’.
But their relationship reached a bitter end when Forge allegedly sent an unsolicited picture of Silverstein’s ‘booty’ to her own daughter towards the end of their contract.
Their agreement stipulated that she call him ‘Daddy’ and granted him ‘exclusive use of her body to do as he likes’
But their relationship reached a bitter end when Dr Forge allegedly sent an unsolicited picture of Ms Silverstein’s ‘booty’ to her own daughter towards the end of their contract (pictured)
Ms Silverstein said the message was ‘disgusting’ and it was the final straw that made her finally realise Dr Forge was ‘strange’.
‘It was further evidence to me he lacked morals to have have done this to my daughter and myself,’ Ms Silverstein told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I was so shocked he did that behind my back.’
Ms Silverstein believed it was an attempt to groom her daughter, who he had invited to stay at his house and lavished with expensive gifts.
She claims that, in retaliation, she threatened to share compromising pictures with Dr Forge’s family who were in the dark about his lewd proclivities.
Shortly afterwards, Dr Forge took out an Apprehended Violence Order against Ms Silverstein.
New messages before their bitter falling out reveal the perverted Professor’s other seedy obsessions, including his desire to wear BDSM gear.
During their relationship, Dr Forge would split his time between Sydney and Launceston and would fly Ms Silverstein to both cities to see him.
In addition to the $20,000-a-month stipend, he treated her to meals in fancy restaurants, spa retreats, designer gifts and exotic holidays.
Dr Forge’s wealth largely stemmed from his inheritance as an only child.
He was educated at Rugby School, an English boarding school founded in 1567.
‘Some (dumbos) say what don’t kill you makes you stronger: I survived Rugby in the early 60s but what a dreadful place!’, Dr Forge wrote on LinkedIn.
Dr Forge likely sought to numb those memories by hitting bongs and snorting cocaine with Ms Silverstein, with whom he carried out his outlandish fantasies.
New messages before their bitter falling out reveal the perverted Professor’s other seedy obsessions, including his desire to wear BDSM gear
Ms Silverstein (pictured) was employed by Dr Forge between January and October last year
The ethics boffin once sent Ms Silverstein a picture of himself wearing a monstrous-looking black silicon stimulation ‘glove’ with accompanying message: ‘Are you ready for ‘the glove’?’
‘That’s amazing daddy,’ responded Ms Silverstein.
A video of Ms Silverstein, filmed by Dr Forge, has also emerged in which she’s wearing leather lingerie, suspenders and a neck collar with a gold heart lock.
‘So daddy, I masturbated without your permission. I’m assuming that I’m going to be punished now?’
Dr Forge can then be heard saying: ‘Yes, you are.’
She responds: ‘Is that with the gag and the tying me up and the flogging?’
Dr Forge replies, excitedly: ‘It is! It will be happening shortly.’
In another message, Dr Forge said he ‘got used’ to the idea of Ms Silverstein working with other clients – but only on certain conditions.
‘As long as I know what’s happening: when you are going to start, etc,’ he wrote.
‘I’m fine with helping you with content, as I feel it’s something we do together.’
‘And was thinking if you need to get someone to do more explicit stuff for OnlyFans, that’s ok too.’
It was previously revealed Dr Forge helped Ms Silverstein with filming content for her OnlyFans account.
In addition to the $20,000-a-month stipend, Dr Forge treated Ms Silverstein to meals in fancy restaurants, spa retreats, designer gifts and exotic holidays (the pair are pictured together)
He also sent a tongue-in-cheek hand-written note to Ms Silverstein entitled ‘Setting the Boundaries: A Girl’s Duties to her Daddy Dom’.
‘Lecture to be given by Professor Jon Forge, 8pm Intercontinental Hotel, Melbourne,’ the jokey lecture advertisement read.
‘October 13. All Welcome. Members of the audience are invited to stay behind for private discussions.’
Although their agreement reached an end in October, they continued talking into November.
It was at this point that Dr Forge expressed a desire to end their $20,000-a-month agreement.
‘Sadly, I don’t think things would have worked out between us,’ he wrote over Facebook messenger on November 13 last year.
‘I don’t think in the end I could have coped with your work! But good luck to you…’
He added: ‘I think it best if I restrict you on Messenger ): too tempting to text.’
It was around this time that Dr Forge sent unsolicited pictures to Ms Silverstein’s daughter, prompting their falling out.
In the first one, he was topless with a jumper wrapped around his shoulders as he nestled into Ms Silverstein’s neck.
Although their agreement reached an end in October, they continued talking into Novembe – when Forge cut things off
Respected philosophy professor Dr John Forge (pictured) died last month amid allegations he sexually assaulted a vulnerable woman for three years
Dr Forge also sent a tongue-in-cheek hand-written note to Ms Silverstein entitled ‘Setting the Boundaries: A Girl’s Duties to her Daddy Dom’
The second is a picture of Ms Silverstein’s behind taken while she is relaxing in a pool. ‘Didn’t need to see the last photo,’ the daughter responded.
Dr Forge said he had sent it on purpose for ‘fun’, claiming: ‘Took some nice ones of your mam in the pool. She asked for a ‘booty’ shot!’
This exchange proved to be the end of their intimate and lucrative agreement.
Six months later Dr Forge would be discovered dead at the bottom of a gorge.
Hours earlier detectives had knocked on his door over allegations he sexually abused a vulnerable woman who has no relation to Ms Silverstein or her daughter.
The claims made against Dr Forge related to alleged incidents that took place in NSW and Tasmania – with the esteemed ethics expert having moved from Sydney to Launceston in January 2022.
A Tasmania Police spokesperson confirmed a person was found dead at Cataract Gorge on May 2 under circumstances that were not considered suspicious.
The 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.
Philosophy professor John Forge (pictured) died on May 2 while under investigation over historic sexual abuse allegations
‘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.’
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 been switched to a memorial template.
His profile on the University of Sydney website has since been removed
Police were called to Cataract Gorge (pictured) after a concerned member of the public found his belongings abandoned on a footpath
‘We are deeply committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment for everyone in our community,’ a spokeswoman for the university 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.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk