Teenage prankster Joshua Cherub charged over BDSM-style ‘performance art’ act on Sydney train

A teenager has been charged following a bizarre public nuisance incident in Sydney‘s CBD, with the serial prankster building a social media profile based off his stunts which he calls “performance art”.

The 19-year-old, who goes by Joshua Cherub online, posted the stunt on October 11 in which he himself taped to a chair.

The actual incident took place the night before about 10.20pm at the intersection of George and Bathurst St.

In a statement to 7NEWS.com.au, NSW Police said officers were conducting patrols when they saw a large group of people had gathered at the location.

Cherub’s video, which has been viewed almost 100,000 times on Instagram, show officers dragging the teen away from the crowd while he remained taped to the chair.

He captioned the video, “Performance Art #6” and tagged the NSW Police Instagram account.

Multiple people filmed the ordeal and were seen watching on as Cherub was arrested.

Police say he was issued a move on direction, which he refused.

Cherub was charged with refuse/fail to comply with direction under Part 1 and will appear at Downing Centre Local Court in November.

The teenager has been amassing a large following for his public stunts performed in recent weeks throughout the CBD.

His first post appeared on August 31 when he taped himself to a pole at Darling Harbour.

In the caption of this post Cherub wrote: “If you are in an environment where you cannot be yourself then what is the point? Embrace and love the things that make you the person that you are.”

“I have never made myself happy trying to be someone I am not.”

On September 28 Cherub posted a video in which he was suspended with tape from the ceiling of a Sydney train carriage.

Commuters were captured interacting with Cherub as they boarded the train.

The video was watched 12.5 million times on Instagram and 139,000 times on TikTok.

Minister for Transport John Graham said Cherub’s train stunt was dangerous and put other passengers at risk.

“The overwhelming majority of people just want to get to where they are going safely and on time – not become extras in someone’s attempt to cultivate a social media following,” he said.

“If being on the screen is the aim, people should know the Rail Operations Centre has CCTV across the network 24/7 and works closely with Police Transport Command to target and deter anti-social and reckless behaviour.”

In another video posted on October 4, Cherub taped himself to a pole and was covered in paint by members of the public.

He appears to be performing many of his stunts along with friends who also have built a social media following.