Chris Dawson’s ‘abuse of schoolgirl’ reported by education worker

Convicted wife killer Chris Dawson’s alleged underage sex with a schoolgirl was brought to authorities’ attention by a former NSW Education Department employee decades ago, a court has been told, as the lead investigator gave evidence.

Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft leaves the Downing Centre in Sydney after giving evidence in Chris Dawson’s carnal knowledge trial. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Christian Gilles

Convicted wife killer Chris Dawson’s alleged underage sex with a schoolgirl that he went on to marry was brought to authorities’ attention by a former NSW Education Department employee decades ago.

Notes from an education department investigation show that in 1997, a woman named Celeste Everingham told department investigator Pat Clear “she had been provided information from her nieces who had attended Cromer High School”.

Prosecutor Emma Blizard read into evidence at Dawson’s carnal knowledge trial in the District Court in Sydney on Tuesday a summary of Mr Clear’s investigation, detailing publicly for the first time how the department’s inquiries came about.

Chris Dawson with AB on their wedding day in 1984, two years after he murdered his first wife, Lyn.

Ms Everingham also raised concerns about two other, unnamed, teachers, the court was told.

Mr Clear tried to get hold of police files in the then-unsolved disappearance of Dawson’s wife Lynette, but those files had been lost, Detective Inspector Paul Maygar told Mr Clear, according to the summary.

The detective gave Mr Clear the address of the former student that had married Dawson in 1984, and she agreed to give a statement.

That student had split up with Dawson in 1990 and is now the complainant at Dawson’s carnal knowledge trial, where she has been given the pseudonym AB.

In June 1998, after taking AB’s statement, Mr Clear sent a letter to Dawson, by then living in Queensland, saying an allegation had been raised about improper conduct of a sexual nature with a female student in 1980 and 1981.

Mr Clear then phoned Dawson, who declined to comment.

Mr Clear sent Dawson a letter asking why his name should not be included on a ‘not to be employed’ list.

Dawson rang Mr Clear on July 23, 1998, and the conversation was included in Mr Clear’s file notes.

“He did not intend to respond to the letters in writing and he did not want his non-response read as an admission,” the note stated.

“He was not intending to return to NSW and for that reason does not intend to go to the trouble of responding.”

A sketch of Chris Dawson from the carnal knowledge trial. Part way through proceedings he was given permission to view the trial from Long Bay jail by video link rather than attending in person, due to a medical complaint.

The detective in charge of the NSW Police strike force that charged Dawson with unlawful sex with AB also gave evidence.

Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft said Strike Force Southwood was set up to investigate allegations of improper relationships between teachers and students on Sydney’s northern beaches between 1978 and 1985.

Asked by Ms Blizard what led to the strike force, she replied: “A podcast.”

Strike Force Southwood was established as a result of revelations on The Australian’s podcast The Teacher’s Pet and began its work on July 25, 2018.

After the formation of the strike force was made public, police were contacted by a solicitor representing complainant AB saying she wished to speak to them, Sergeant Beacroft said.

Ms Blizard read into evidence a statement from Robyn Wheeler, who was in Year 9 at Cromer High in 1980 – the year complainant AB says Dawson began sexually abusing her.

“I would see AB in Chris Dawson’s office with him when I would go and see (someone else) about basketball related issues,” Ms Wheeler’s statement said.

Ms Blizard also read a statement into evidence of a woman who is known by the pseudonym EF.

She was in Year 9 in 1979, aged 14, when Dawson’s twin brother Paul was her teacher in health studies.

“Paul was friendly to me and asked if I would babysit. I liked Paul and I commenced to babysit for him and his family,” EF said.

“Towards the end of 1980 I was involved in a fun run with other students from school.

“I was with another school friend … and Paul Dawson approached me and said we would cut the run short and the three of us would go down to Shelly Beach for a swim.

“We ran down to Shelly Beach and had a swim, I vaguely remember getting a lift from Chris Dawson and AB back to school after the swim because I wondered what that girl (AB) was doing with Chris.”

She recalled this as being September 1980.

Leigh Maloney gave evidence at the trial that in 1981 she went almost every week to fitness classes run by the Dawson twins at a school hall at Lindfield.

The class was made up of young mothers like herself, but two young schoolgirls sometimes sat at the back, she said.

“After a considerable time seeing them there, it was explained they were the babysitters for the instructors. They were gorgeous, pretty young things,” Ms Maloney said.

The trial was previously told AB and another, younger schoolgirl hung out with the Dawson twins at the classes and then went swimming naked with them in a pool at the school. AB says this is one of the places sexual activity with Chris Dawson occurred.

AB’s sisters were listed as witnesses at the trial, but Ms Blizard instead read into evidence parts of a prior interview and statement of AB’s younger sister only.

Ms Blizard said the sister, who can only be referred to as GH, said Dawson “favoured” AB and used to give them lifts in his car.

GH was able to pinpoint the timing of the lifts to some time after August 1980 when the family moved into a new home in Collaroy Plateau.

A man, now aged in his late 50s, also told the court that in 1980 he was a young Coles worker with a romantic interest in AB.

Dawson confronted him while he was pushing trolleys and warned him to stay away from her.

“I was completely perplexed about what was going on and probably pretty scared,” he said.

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