A Hobart man who sexually abused former Australian of the Year Grace Tame as a schoolgirl has pleaded not guilty to using social media to harass her online.
Nicolaas Ockert Bester, 70, is charged with three counts of using a carriage service to menace between April and August, 2022.
It is alleged that Mr Bester made public posts on Twitter about, and directed at, Ms Tame that reasonable people "would regard as being, in all the circumstances, menacing".
He entered a plea of not guilty to the charges when he appeared in the Hobart Magistrates court on Tuesday.
Ms Tame and her supporters sat in the back of the courtroom as the matter was being heard.
Magistrate Andrew McKee continued his bail and adjourned the case until April 27.
In 2010, Ms Tame was 15 and a student in Hobart when she was groomed and repeatedly abused by Bester, who was a former maths teacher at St Michael's Collegiate School.
In 2011, Mr Bester was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for his abuse of Ms Tame and for possessing child exploitation material.
He served one year and nine months.
Ms Tame was previously barred from speaking out but eventually won her fight to change legislation in Tasmania, which allows victim-survivors of sexual crimes to be identified and publicly share their experiences.
Under the changes, survivors over the age of 18 can share their stories if they have provided written authorisation and do not have a mental impairment that would make them incapable of reasonable judgement.
Ms Tame was named 2021 Australian of the year and continues to be an influential advocate for survivors of sexual assault.
