Chris Dawson returned a topless picture of a pupil with whom he is said to have had an illicit sexual contact.
The former pupil, identified only as AB in court, was perhaps 14 or 15 when the picture was taken. It was then circulated around her school.
She “went unnoticed” by Dawson before he viewed a picture of her in a “vulnerable position.”
She admitted to having very little to do with him on Tuesday in front of the NSW District Court.
He wasn’t my teacher, thus there was no need. I was attempting to manage the typical 15-year-old life while enmeshed in my social group, she added.
Dawson, 74, is accused of having intercourse with AB on Sydney’s northern beaches between July and December 1980 when she was 16 and his student.
The charge of carnal knowledge, which Dawson rejects, was replaced in 1986.
According to public defender Claire Wasley, the prosecution will have to demonstrate that any alleged sexual behaviour took place while he was her teacher.
According to crown prosecutor Emma Blizard, there is no disputing that the two engaged in sexual activity.
The timing and beginning of the events will be the main problem, according to Blizard.
Dawson repeatedly assured AB that his goal was for his classmates to get to know her.
Because that made me softer, she explained when testifying on Tuesday.
Since he said it, I felt special.
Before reportedly touching her bare knee at a sporting event, he was paying her close attention and she started confiding in him about problems at home.
“That was the first time he paid me that intimate – as I recall, as I see it – intimate attention,” she recalled.
Later, practically every weekend, including nights when Dawson and his wife were spending the night at home, AB began looking after Dawson’s kids.
He allegedly started going to the authorised location where AB and other students indulged in Friday night underage drinking while telling her tales of “how fabulous” he was as “part of the grooming process.”
She admitted to the court that the amount of time she was spending with him “just got out of control.”
She was often brought along when Dawson and his twin brother led gym lessons.
According to AB, “When one twin was in charge of the class, the other was out back with whoever was their property at the time.”
Wasley reminded Judge Sarah Huggett that Dawson is not subject to the same legal or moral standards that are in effect today, and that her knowledge of his murder conviction should have no weight on the case.
Dawson and AB started having sex when she was younger than 18 and a pupil, but not when he was her teacher, according to Wasley.
After a judge determined that Dawson’s motivation for killing his wife Lynette in January 1982 was to pursue an unrestricted connection with a student, Dawson was sentenced to prison in 2022.
Dawson will be permitted more frequent pauses throughout the judge-only trial due to his ageing health difficulties.
