The Teacher’s Pet: NSW Police building ‘significant dossier’ on teacher-student sex

The former northern beaches student who first spoke out about predatory teachers says police are building a ‘significant dossier’.

Former Cromer High School vice-captain Robyn Wheeler. Picture: Liam Driver

The former northern beaches stud­ent who first spoke out about predatory teachers says police are building a “significant dossier of information”.

NSW police formed Strike Force Southwood in July to investigate historical sexual assaults and student-teacher relationships uncovered in the investigative podcast series The Teacher’s Pet.

Former Cromer High School vice-captain Robyn Wheeler, who came forward at the start of the ­series about a “pack” of teachers pursuing students for sex in the 1980s, said yesterday people were continuing to talk to the strike force. “I know up until two weeks ago people were still speaking to them,” she said.

“I believe they’ve had a lot of inform­ation and they’ve had a lot of people come forward.

“Because they are so keen to protect the integrity of all of the statements, and to stop people contaminating evidence, once you speak to them they ask you not to speak with other people about those discussions.

“Similarly, when people have contacted me to tell me something I’ve said, ‘don’t tell me, you need to speak to Southwood’. So I’ve been directing people there.

“They must be building a signif­icant dossier of information.”

The arrest of Chris Dawson, a former Cromer High sports teacher, for the murder of his wife, Lyn, had demonstrated the police commitm­ent to investigating alleg­ations from the era, she said.

“It’s reassured everyone that police are moving in the right directio­n and doing whatever they can to bring it to a rightful conclusion,” Ms Wheeler said.