Convicted wife killer Chris Dawson allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old student in his parents’ bed and told her ‘you did very well’ after the encounter, a court heard.
Former teacher and rugby league player Dawson, 74, is facing a judge-alone trial in the NSW District Court, where he is fighting allegations he engaged in sexual activities with one of his pupils over 40 years ago.
The court heard the pair also allegedly engaged in sexual activity in the back seat of his car, in his school office and in a pool while his brother was up the other end.
Dawson pleaded not guilty to one count of carnal knowledge, relating to alleged sexual activities with a teenage girl – who can only be known as AB – between July 1980 and December 12 1980.
He on Tuesday pleaded not guilty, with his barrister telling the court the timing of their first sexual activity was in dispute.
Chris Dawson, 74, is facing a judge-alone trial in the NSW District Court, where he is fighting allegations he engaged in sexual activities with one of his pupils over 40 years ago
Chris Dawson at his wedding to his wife Lynette Simms. He was last year sentenced to 24 years’ jail over her murder
Crown prosecutor Emma Blizard told the court that the sexual activity first occurred at Dawson’s parents’ home, at a time when AB was a student in his year 11 sports class.
Wearing a prison-issue green tracksuit, Dawson sat in the dock at Sydney’s Downing Centre Court as AB gave her evidence via videolink from a remote location.
AB described to the court their first interactions in the playground when she was in year 10 in 1979, through to their first sexual activity at his parents’ Maroubra home in the second half of 1980.
AB told Judge Sarah Huggett the incident occurred on a Friday or Saturday night in about August or September of 1980.
At the time, Dawson’s parents were away at their holiday home.
AB told the court on Tuesday that after the sexual activity on his parents’ bed, he asked if she was ok and said: ‘I hope this was helpful’, ‘it was a good start’ and ‘you did really well’.
‘I was told to keep it a secret,’ AB said.
The court was told that AB endured a tumultuous home life at the hands of an alcoholic mother and stepfather and confided in Dawson, who had shown interest in her.
AB told the court she first had contact with him in year 10, when a topless photo of her, which had been taken at a picnic, began circulating around the school and he handed it back to her.
She alleges he would sometimes meet her at a local pub on a Friday night and ‘he used to sit there telling tell me about himself, how great he was’.
She described that as ‘part of the grooming process’.
Dawson appeared gaunt when he appeared in the NSW District Court on Monday. Court sketch above
Chris Dawson has pleaded not guilty to the charge of carnal knowledge
AB said she would sometimes take exercise classes at Linfield, which were taught by the Dawson brothers, where they would engage in alleged sexual activity out the back.
She said on one occasion she engaged in sexual activity with Dawson in the pool, while at the other end his twin brother engaged in sexual activity with another young girl.
‘(Dawson’s brother) Paul and (the other young girl) were up one end and we were at the other end of the pool,’ AB said in her evidence.
AB also told the court that Dawson would buy her chocolates before they engaged in sexual activity in the back seat of his car and how he would move the baby seat out of the back to make room for them.
AB also told the court that she would engage in sexual activity with Dawson in his office at school during recess.
The Crown will also be relying on cards sent by Dawson to AB, including one at Christmas in 1980 that said: ‘Happy Christmas. Once or twice every minute. Love always. God.’
AB told the court that the reference to ‘God’ was an attempt to disguise his name.
‘He didn’t call himself a god,’ AB said.
‘But we must have agreed that this is what he would refer to himself as, because I was 16 and he knew it.’
The court was on Tuesday read an excerpt from her year 11 report card in which Dawson wrote that she was a ‘pleasure to teach’.
‘He was referring to the lessons I’d learned in sexual activity,’ AB said, adding that Dawson told her he thought it was ‘clever’.
Dawson, a former Newtown Jets player, was last year sentenced to 24 years in jail over the murder of his wife Lynette Simms.
He has maintained his innocence and has lodged a notice of intention to appeal.
Defence barrister Claire Wasley told the court the trial should be determined on the evidence and Judge Sarah Huggett could not consider Dawson’s murder conviction.
Ms Wasley argued that Dawson’s ‘morality’ was not an issue in the trial, either.
Ms Wasley said the issue at trial was the timing of the first sexual activity, which they say occurred following AB’s 17th birthday in early 1981.
‘It is not in dispute that (Dawson engaged in sexual activities) while a teacher and while (AB) was a student … What is in dispute is the first instance of sexual activities occurred while she was in year 11,’ Ms Wasley said.
Ms Wasley told the court on Tuesday that Dawson was ‘struggling’ and asked that he be allowed to watch proceedings from prison starting Wednesday.
The trial before Judge Huggett is expected to run for two weeks.
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