Teacher’s Pet: Dawson twins had ‘birthday sex’ with schoolgirl

A ‘pack’ of teachers were having sex with Cromer High students when murder suspect Chris Dawson taught there.

Twin brothers Chris, right, and Paul Dawson.

Child protection investigators have begun contacting former students of schools on Sydney’s northern beaches in the early 1980s, amid allegations teachers regularly engaged in sex with teenage schoolgirls.

Investigators are gathering evidence from former students after The Australian’s investi­gative podcast series, The Teacher’s Pet, ­revealed a “pack” of teachers were having sex with Cromer High students when murder suspect Chris Dawson taught there.

Former Cromer High vice-captain Robyn Wheeler yesterday said she had known a number of girls were in sexual relationships with teachers when she was at Cromer High, but since the podcast series started she’d become aware dozens were involved.

Sergeant Damian Loone who investigated the 1982 disappearance of Chris Dawson’s wife, Lyn, told the NSW Coroner in 2003 these sexual activities included Chris and his twin Paul having sexual intercourse with a female student at the same time.

Separately, it can be revealed police investigating Lyn Dawson’s disappearance were told teachers from at least two schools, Cromer High and Forest High, had sex with one of the schoolgirls, “Alice”, in a school gym and at her home during lunch breaks.

Several former students and teachers have spoken to The Australian about the alleged relationship. Paul Dawson has denied wrongdoing, previously telling police the relationship with Alice started just after she left school.

Sources claim she started a sexual relationship with Paul in 1981 when he was a sports teacher at Forest High, The Weekend Australian can reveal.

In July 1982, when Alice had turned 17 but was still at school, Paul allegedly began arranging for her to have sex with other men, including Chris, then a sports teacher at Cromer High.

The girl made a statement to police about the alleged relationship but the statement was the subject of a non-publication order by a coroner in 2003.

Full details of the relationship have never been revealed but former students have recounted various lurid encounters involving Paul Dawson and the girl.

It’s alleged on one occasion Paul had brought a blindfolded Chris to his home and the trio had sex together as a “birthday present” for Chris and because it was Paul’s fantasy to have sex with a woman at the same time as his brother.

In another instance, the girl ­allegedly performed a strip show at Forest High’s gym for at least 10 men from one of Paul and Chris Dawson’s football teams, then had sex with the men.

On another occasion, Paul allegedly invited her to his office at Forest High to perform oral sex on him during school hours. Paul had been her sex education teacher.

The Dawsons played rugby union before switching codes, becoming star footballers playing league for the Newtown Jets. One of the sexual encounters arranged by Paul is alleged to have involved a former union international.

Chris Dawson was separately involved in a sexual relationship with Cromer High student Joanne Curtis.

It’s also alleged that Chris would arrange for Ms Curtis to have sex with Paul.

Teachers involved in the alleged sexual encounters with the Dawson twins were not investigated by police, with detectives focused on Lyn’s suspected murder.

Ms Wheeler, Cromer High’s 1983 vice-captain, blew the whistle on teacher-student sex at the school earlier in the podcast ­series. She said yesterday former ­pupils were now openly sharing stories. “Originally I would have said there were less than a dozen (girls), but now it would appear that there are dozens and dozens.

“It wasn’t necessarily relationship-based. It was more of a casual one-off, or not as obvious as the more long-term like Joanne Curtis and Chris Dawson.”

A number of the girls, now women in their 50s, have suffered mental health problems or breakdowns attributed to their relationships with teachers.

One student who graduated from Cromer High in 1980 yesterday said she could “confirm the disgusting behaviour of numerous teachers, both male and female”.

The local Time and Tide Hotel, where under-age students congregated, was “a notorious spot and a favourite of the predatory teachers”, she said. “They knew we gathered there to celebrate our birthdays, our graduations or simply to get together and socialise.

“They were always in the background watching, waiting and often buying rounds of drinks.”

Other students to come forward about teachers include Cromer’s 1983 school captain Jane Linwood and former students ­Michelle Walsh and Phil Webster.

Two coroners found Chris Dawson murdered Lyn, but the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions said there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

Chris Dawson strenuously ­denies he killed his wife. He ­declined to talk for the podcast ­series; Paul Dawson did not reply to requests for comment.