Guided by sharp minds and honed wisdom, philosophy professors are perhaps the last group of people expected to succumb to the temptations of the flesh.
But Professor John Forge, 77, who was found dead at the bottom of a canyon last month, was no ordinary philosophy professor.
Before he passed away on May 2 this year, Oxford University-educated Forge might’ve lived a pious life to outsiders, but the professor was about as debauched as they get, it has been revealed.
Making sex workers sign $20,000-a-month agreements that required them to call him ‘Daddy’, hitting bongs and snorting cocaine were just some of the many vices the professor allegedly indulged in before he was found at the base of the Cataract Gorge in Tasmania, Australia.
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.
Skylar Silverstein, a Sydney-based sex worker, says she was employed by Dr Forge from January to October last year and claims she was involved in a ‘sex contract’ with the old man
Video showed Forge smoking marijuana from a bong
A letter Dr Forge wrote to Ms Silverstein detailing aspects of their agreement
His alleged sugar baby escort Skylar Silverstein spoke 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.’
Respected philosophy professor Dr John Forge (pictured) died last month amid allegations he sexually assaulted a vulnerable woman for three years
Another video showed him snorting a white powder with a rolled up note, before rubbing the remaining powder on his gums
His alleged sugar baby escort Skylar Silverstein spoke about her ex-client, claiming she was embroiled in a ‘financial agreement’ with him
She previously said of the arrangement: ‘We got on quite well and decided to do an arrangement, where I would see him a certain number of times per month,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I received a generous monthly allowance of $20,000 plus exotic holidays.
‘He took me to all the high end restaurants, showered me in expensive gifts. We drunk the best champagnes and wines. He bought me designer items and a luxury spa.
‘We shared a lot of personal details. I really felt I knew him even in that time. We spoke over the phone everyday.’
But despite public appearances, Dr Forge had a wild side – and some very unusual fetishes.
‘He was extremely kinky. Under the arrangement, I had to call him ‘Daddy John’ and he wanted me tied up and gagged,’ Ms Silverstein said.
‘He even engaged in illicit drug taking at 77 years of age!’
Video emerged allegedly showing him using a bong to smoke marijuana, while a woman lights it up for him, while another showed him snorting what appears to be a white powder with a rolled up note, before dabbing the remaining powder on his gums.
The escort added: ‘I have an OnlyFans account and he was helping me with the content. His voice is in some of the videos.’
But after learning of Forge’s allegations, Silverstein told Daily Mail Australia how upon reflection, their conversations were ‘creepy’.
The Sydney-based sex worker said: ‘In the arrangement, he spoke about her [his alleged victim] a lot. It was strange,’ she said.
‘He said he loved her.. [but] it was a sick love. He was [allegedly] stalking her. 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.
Philosophy professor John Forge (pictured with Skylar) died on May 2 while under investigation over historical sexual abuse allegations
Forge’s body was found on May 2 at the base of the Cataract Gorge in Tasmania
Dr Forge is pictured with Sydney-based sex worker Skylar Silverstein last year
‘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.”
Police were called to Cataract Gorge (pictured) after a concerned member of the public found his belongings abandoned on a footpath
As a child, Forge was sent to boarding school in Britain and attended the prestigious Rugby School in Warwickshire, which he described as a ‘dreadful place’, before going on to spent a further 11 years in education.
During that time he studied at a slew of top establishments including Oxford and University College London, as well as Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
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.
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.