March 31, 2025 • 13 mins
In the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, Christopher Michael Dawson says he’s not guilty of unlawful carnal knowledge of a schoolgirl.
The Front is The Australian's daily news podcast. You can find out more about it here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app.
This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Joshua Burton. Our team includes Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack, Joshua Burton, Stephanie Coombes and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
It's Tuesday, April one, twenty twenty five. The fight over
energy prices is heading up, with allegations the government is
telling businesses the wholesale electricity price will come down while
refusing to make the same promise to householders. It comes
(00:24):
as the federal election campaign enters a fiery first week,
with the suspected Chinese spy ship in Bass Strait allegedly
examining undersea cables. The Australian's reporting today that ship is
being monitored by the Australian Border Force, not the military,
as claimed by the Prime Minister, who says he would
prefer the ship was not in Australian waters. Those stories
(00:48):
and all the elections scoops and drama are live now
at the Australian dot com dot au. Christopher Michael Dawson
is appealing his convention for the unlawful carnal knowledge of
a schoolgirl. His lawyers say the trial judge made errors
and the verdict of guilty was unreasonable. It all turns
(01:09):
on when Dawson had his first kiss with the girl
when he was in his early thirties and she was
a teenager today. Why Dawson says he's not guilty before
(01:30):
we begin This episode contains details of alleged sexual offending.
When did a schoolgirl share her first kiss with the
man she would later marry. It's an evocative moment. He's
teaching her to drive, seizing the opportunity to be alone
(01:52):
with this beautiful young woman. She's desperate to gain her
license as a measure of freedom from the turbulence of
her home life. They will go on to have sex, marry,
and welcome a daughter. But this is no ordinary teenage
love story. He is Christopher Dawson, a married teacher in
his thirties, a father of two small girls. He will
(02:15):
pursue his obsession with this schoolgirl so far as to
kill his wife, Lynette Simms. He'll be convicted of murdering
Lynn and of having unlawful carnal knowledge of the schoolgirl
by having sex with her when she was sixteen and
a pupil in his sports coaching class, but he will
never admit guilt and is appealing all his convictions. And
(02:41):
that's why in the New South Wales Court of Criminal
Appeal we spent Monday back in nineteen eighty driving around
Sydney's Northern beaches with Dawson and this girl who can
only be identified as Ab. The timing of that first
kiss did it happen in nineteen eighty or nineteen eighty one.
He's the core of Dawson's appeal against his conviction for
(03:03):
unlawful carnal knowledge. He's also fighting the murder conviction and
is presently seeking special leave to appeal to the High
Court of Australia. In late nineteen eighty, the girl was
sixteen years old, old enough to legally consent to sex,
except if it involved one of her teachers. The law
at the time held that the age of consent was seventeen.
(03:24):
If it involved a pupil and her teacher. That means
to be guilty of the charge, Dawson must have had
sex with the girl when she was in his class,
that is, before year eleven formally finished on December twelfth,
nineteen eighty, and before her seventeenth birthday. So the crucial
issue is was she sixteen or seventeen when they first
(03:47):
had sex and when they shared their first kiss. Ab
has described their first sexual intercourse at his parents' home
in the southeastern Sydney suburb of Marouba and says it
was before her seventeenth birthday. Part of the evidence in
the carnal knowledge trial were cards Dawson gave a b
(04:09):
for Christmas nineteen eighty and her seventeenth birthday early in
nineteen eighty one. Here's Judge Sarah Hugget finding Dawson guilty
back in June twenty twenty three and listing the factors
which convinced her they did have sex before December twelfth,
nineteen eighty, when the school term ended.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The fact the accused addressed to Christmas card to PETL
and signed the card Love Always God, which I find
to be powerful evidence that supports and is consistent with
the timeline of the events described by the complainant and
completely inconsistent with a developing relationship in which the accused
was becoming romantic towards the complainant after the end of
(04:53):
the nineteen eighty school year.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
It was all part of the evidence Judge Hugget used
to find Dawson had had sex with AB before her
seventeenth birthday, which was in early nineteen eighty one.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
The fact the accused addressed a seventeenth birthday card to
quote the most beautiful girl in the world and wrote
a message that included quote knowing we will share all
the birthdays to follow all my love for ever xxx,
which I find to be powerful evidence revealing that on
or around the complainant's seventeenth birthday, the accused, a mature
(05:29):
man as opposed to an immature teenager, was confident in
the existence of a reciprocal and permanent relationship, and that
was because the sexual relationship had commenced between one July
nineteen eighty and twelve December nineteen eighty.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
You might remember the day of this verdict in June
twenty twenty three because Chris Dawson, over the video link
from prison, made quite a remarkable outburst. That was after
the judge left the court room. She returned in September
twenty twenty three to imprison.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Him, Christopher Dawson, for the offense of cardinal knowledge of
a girl above the age of ten years and under
the age of seventeen years and who was your pupil.
I sentenced you to imprisonment for three years, commencing on
thirty August twenty thirty nine and expiring on twenty nine
August twenty forty two, with a non parole period of
(06:30):
two years expiring on twenty nine August twenty forty one,
on which date you were eligible for a parole.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Dawson was already serving twenty four years for the murder
of Lynn.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Implicit in the offense is that the offending involved an
abuse of the position of trust and authority held by
a teacher in relation to a pupil. At the time
of the offense, the offender was aged thirty two brackets
or very close to thirty two, as a mature, educated
and intelligent man. The victim was age sixteen and some months,
(07:05):
placing her at the top end of the age range.
The offender elected to engage in a sexual relationship with
the victim when she was his student and he was
her teacher, and in circumstances where I consider his moral
culpability to be high.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
For the appeal hearing on Monday March thirty one, twenty
twenty five, Dawson was visible on the audio visual link.
He was wearing the standard dark green prison issue tracksuit
familiar in New South Wales jails. He was listed not
by name but as mrrc J Bloc CS twelve. That's
Silver Water Jail in Sydney's Inner West, the rather grandly
(07:48):
named Metropolitan Remand and Reception Center, which is a maximum
security prison for men. It's where prisoners go when they're
first in custody or awaiting trial. After his court made
are over, Dawson will return to his regular cell at
Clarence Correctional Center's Aged and Frail Unit. Dawson is represented
by Legal aid in this appeal, and the barrister is
(08:09):
one of the state's most expensive silks. Stephen Odger's sc
We've used a voice actor to bring you his words.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I'm not seeking to persuade your honors that there was
doubt about the truthfulness of the complainant. The real issue
is her reliability, particularly in relation to timing.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Orgess is saying AB isn't a liar, She's just got
her dates mixed up. He took the appeal Dodgers through
AB's various statements about when the first kiss happened. Through
multiple statements to police and in court, she said the
first kiss happened during driving lessons. AB would have been
eligible for a learner's permit in November nineteen eighty, but
(08:52):
in nineteen ninety eight, she said she recalled Dawson picking
her up from her mother's home in Heather Street, Collery Plateau,
and there's evidence that the family didn't move to that
unit until early nineteen eighty one. In twenty nineteen, Ab
said she was confident they first had sex before she
got her learner's permit, and then under cross examination, she
(09:12):
said she was uncertain about the exact date.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Even if the judge correctly finds that she's generally truthful,
generally reliable, there still may be reasons for doubt or.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Just also raised doubt about the timing of fitness classes
Dawson took at Linfield Public School. It was after one
of these classes that Ab and other witnesses say she
and Dawson were kissing and fondling in the pool. Ab
said in her evidence that the pool encounter, which she
firmly believed happened in nineteen eighty was part of the
grooming process and that it occurred before she first had
(09:48):
sex with Dawson. But other witnesses say they saw Ab
in the pool with Dawson in nineteen eighty one, and
Judge Sarah Haggart accepted this was accurate. And that AB
had been confused about the time. Judge Huggett found a
b was not deliberately lying, just mistaken or just told
the appeal court. This meant there was reasonable doubt about
(10:09):
the timing. If AB was wrong about the fitness classes,
she could also be wrong about when she first had
sex with Dawson.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It ceased to be a criminal offense soon after December
twelfth of nineteen eighty. He is clearly smitten by her
and they ultimately married. He clearly is romantically very attracted
to her. The question is did he go to the
next step of committing this serious criminal offense and is
(10:36):
there a doubt about that based on timing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Coming up? Why the Crown says Dawson's conviction should stand.
That's after the break in this case. Counsel for the
(11:06):
Crown is the Deputy State Director of Public Prosecutions, Helen
Roberts SC. She told the judges they should uphold Judge
Sarah Huggart's verdict of guilt. Stephen Odgers for Dawson, is
arguing that the inconsistencies in AB's evidence add up to
reasonable doubt and that therefore Dawson shouldn't have been convicted,
(11:27):
Helen Roberts told the judges. In fact, Judge Huggart accurately
observed the inconsistencies but still correctly found Dawson guilty. Here's
a voice actor reading Helen roberts words.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
The complainant gives evidence that the sexual relationship commenced when
she was sixteen years old and when she was in
year eleven. And the question is can the Crown prove
that relying on her evidence beyond reasonable doubt. It's a
question of the reliability of the complainant on the key issues.
The trial judge did not her in the way her
(12:01):
honor approached it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Helen Roberts observed that Steven Odgers for Dawson, had argued
that the Christmas and Birthday cards did not contain any
overtly sexual content, and that therefore they shouldn't be seen
as evidence of a sexual relationship. Robert said, in fact,
that's exactly what you'd expect from someone like Dawson.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
The absence of direct reference to sexual content should not
be something that makes that evidence less compelling. It would
not be expected that he would, given the way in
which he was relating to her, which was as a
caring helpful, loving, older mature man. It would be unexpected
if the cards were to have overt sexual content on them.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Robert said. The card was signed all my love.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
We submit that it is powerful support for confidence in
an already formed sexual relationship. It's highly consistent with the
complainant's account that he had said he wanted to marry
her and that he wanted to be with her and
he would look after her on or around the complainant's
seventeenth birthday. The accused, a mature man as opposed to
an immature teenager, was confident in the existence of reciprocal
(13:10):
and permanent relationship, and that was because a sexual relationship
had commenced.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
The judges have retired to consider their decision. The Australians
podcast The Teacher's Pet was instrumental in bringing to light
the allegations that Chris Dawson was a murderer and a
child sex offender, allegations Dawson has always steadfastly denied. You
(13:38):
can listen to The Teacher's Pet and its companion podcast,
The Teacher's Trial and The Teacher's Accuser wherever you're listening
right now, and you can follow the course of Dawson's
appeals at the Australian dot com dot au
From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
It's Tuesday, April one, twenty twenty five. The fight over
energy prices is heading up, with allegations the government is
telling businesses the wholesale electricity price will come down while
refusing to make the same promise to householders. It comes
(00:24):
as the federal election campaign enters a fiery first week,
with the suspected Chinese spy ship in Bass Strait allegedly
examining undersea cables. The Australian's reporting today that ship is
being monitored by the Australian Border Force, not the military,
as claimed by the Prime Minister, who says he would
prefer the ship was not in Australian waters. Those stories
(00:48):
and all the elections scoops and drama are live now
at the Australian dot com dot au. Christopher Michael Dawson
is appealing his convention for the unlawful carnal knowledge of
a schoolgirl. His lawyers say the trial judge made errors
and the verdict of guilty was unreasonable. It all turns
(01:09):
on when Dawson had his first kiss with the girl
when he was in his early thirties and she was
a teenager today. Why Dawson says he's not guilty before
(01:30):
we begin This episode contains details of alleged sexual offending.
When did a schoolgirl share her first kiss with the
man she would later marry. It's an evocative moment. He's
teaching her to drive, seizing the opportunity to be alone
(01:52):
with this beautiful young woman. She's desperate to gain her
license as a measure of freedom from the turbulence of
her home life. They will go on to have sex, marry,
and welcome a daughter. But this is no ordinary teenage
love story. He is Christopher Dawson, a married teacher in
his thirties, a father of two small girls. He will
(02:15):
pursue his obsession with this schoolgirl so far as to
kill his wife, Lynette Simms. He'll be convicted of murdering
Lynn and of having unlawful carnal knowledge of the schoolgirl
by having sex with her when she was sixteen and
a pupil in his sports coaching class, but he will
never admit guilt and is appealing all his convictions. And
(02:41):
that's why in the New South Wales Court of Criminal
Appeal we spent Monday back in nineteen eighty driving around
Sydney's Northern beaches with Dawson and this girl who can
only be identified as Ab. The timing of that first
kiss did it happen in nineteen eighty or nineteen eighty one.
He's the core of Dawson's appeal against his conviction for
(03:03):
unlawful carnal knowledge. He's also fighting the murder conviction and
is presently seeking special leave to appeal to the High
Court of Australia. In late nineteen eighty, the girl was
sixteen years old, old enough to legally consent to sex,
except if it involved one of her teachers. The law
at the time held that the age of consent was seventeen.
(03:24):
If it involved a pupil and her teacher. That means
to be guilty of the charge, Dawson must have had
sex with the girl when she was in his class,
that is, before year eleven formally finished on December twelfth,
nineteen eighty, and before her seventeenth birthday. So the crucial
issue is was she sixteen or seventeen when they first
(03:47):
had sex and when they shared their first kiss. Ab
has described their first sexual intercourse at his parents' home
in the southeastern Sydney suburb of Marouba and says it
was before her seventeenth birthday. Part of the evidence in
the carnal knowledge trial were cards Dawson gave a b
(04:09):
for Christmas nineteen eighty and her seventeenth birthday early in
nineteen eighty one. Here's Judge Sarah Hugget finding Dawson guilty
back in June twenty twenty three and listing the factors
which convinced her they did have sex before December twelfth,
nineteen eighty, when the school term ended.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
The fact the accused addressed to Christmas card to PETL
and signed the card Love Always God, which I find
to be powerful evidence that supports and is consistent with
the timeline of the events described by the complainant and
completely inconsistent with a developing relationship in which the accused
was becoming romantic towards the complainant after the end of
(04:53):
the nineteen eighty school year.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
It was all part of the evidence Judge Hugget used
to find Dawson had had sex with AB before her
seventeenth birthday, which was in early nineteen eighty one.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
The fact the accused addressed a seventeenth birthday card to
quote the most beautiful girl in the world and wrote
a message that included quote knowing we will share all
the birthdays to follow all my love for ever xxx,
which I find to be powerful evidence revealing that on
or around the complainant's seventeenth birthday, the accused, a mature
(05:29):
man as opposed to an immature teenager, was confident in
the existence of a reciprocal and permanent relationship, and that
was because the sexual relationship had commenced between one July
nineteen eighty and twelve December nineteen eighty.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
You might remember the day of this verdict in June
twenty twenty three because Chris Dawson, over the video link
from prison, made quite a remarkable outburst. That was after
the judge left the court room. She returned in September
twenty twenty three to imprison.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Him, Christopher Dawson, for the offense of cardinal knowledge of
a girl above the age of ten years and under
the age of seventeen years and who was your pupil.
I sentenced you to imprisonment for three years, commencing on
thirty August twenty thirty nine and expiring on twenty nine
August twenty forty two, with a non parole period of
(06:30):
two years expiring on twenty nine August twenty forty one,
on which date you were eligible for a parole.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Dawson was already serving twenty four years for the murder
of Lynn.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Implicit in the offense is that the offending involved an
abuse of the position of trust and authority held by
a teacher in relation to a pupil. At the time
of the offense, the offender was aged thirty two brackets
or very close to thirty two, as a mature, educated
and intelligent man. The victim was age sixteen and some months,
(07:05):
placing her at the top end of the age range.
The offender elected to engage in a sexual relationship with
the victim when she was his student and he was
her teacher, and in circumstances where I consider his moral
culpability to be high.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
For the appeal hearing on Monday March thirty one, twenty
twenty five, Dawson was visible on the audio visual link.
He was wearing the standard dark green prison issue tracksuit
familiar in New South Wales jails. He was listed not
by name but as mrrc J Bloc CS twelve. That's
Silver Water Jail in Sydney's Inner West, the rather grandly
(07:48):
named Metropolitan Remand and Reception Center, which is a maximum
security prison for men. It's where prisoners go when they're
first in custody or awaiting trial. After his court made
are over, Dawson will return to his regular cell at
Clarence Correctional Center's Aged and Frail Unit. Dawson is represented
by Legal aid in this appeal, and the barrister is
(08:09):
one of the state's most expensive silks. Stephen Odger's sc
We've used a voice actor to bring you his words.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
I'm not seeking to persuade your honors that there was
doubt about the truthfulness of the complainant. The real issue
is her reliability, particularly in relation to timing.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Orgess is saying AB isn't a liar, She's just got
her dates mixed up. He took the appeal Dodgers through
AB's various statements about when the first kiss happened. Through
multiple statements to police and in court, she said the
first kiss happened during driving lessons. AB would have been
eligible for a learner's permit in November nineteen eighty, but
(08:52):
in nineteen ninety eight, she said she recalled Dawson picking
her up from her mother's home in Heather Street, Collery Plateau,
and there's evidence that the family didn't move to that
unit until early nineteen eighty one. In twenty nineteen, Ab
said she was confident they first had sex before she
got her learner's permit, and then under cross examination, she
(09:12):
said she was uncertain about the exact date.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Even if the judge correctly finds that she's generally truthful,
generally reliable, there still may be reasons for doubt or.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Just also raised doubt about the timing of fitness classes
Dawson took at Linfield Public School. It was after one
of these classes that Ab and other witnesses say she
and Dawson were kissing and fondling in the pool. Ab
said in her evidence that the pool encounter, which she
firmly believed happened in nineteen eighty was part of the
grooming process and that it occurred before she first had
(09:48):
sex with Dawson. But other witnesses say they saw Ab
in the pool with Dawson in nineteen eighty one, and
Judge Sarah Haggart accepted this was accurate. And that AB
had been confused about the time. Judge Huggett found a
b was not deliberately lying, just mistaken or just told
the appeal court. This meant there was reasonable doubt about
(10:09):
the timing. If AB was wrong about the fitness classes,
she could also be wrong about when she first had
sex with Dawson.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
It ceased to be a criminal offense soon after December
twelfth of nineteen eighty. He is clearly smitten by her
and they ultimately married. He clearly is romantically very attracted
to her. The question is did he go to the
next step of committing this serious criminal offense and is
(10:36):
there a doubt about that based on timing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Coming up? Why the Crown says Dawson's conviction should stand.
That's after the break in this case. Counsel for the
(11:06):
Crown is the Deputy State Director of Public Prosecutions, Helen
Roberts SC. She told the judges they should uphold Judge
Sarah Huggart's verdict of guilt. Stephen Odgers for Dawson, is
arguing that the inconsistencies in AB's evidence add up to
reasonable doubt and that therefore Dawson shouldn't have been convicted,
(11:27):
Helen Roberts told the judges. In fact, Judge Huggart accurately
observed the inconsistencies but still correctly found Dawson guilty. Here's
a voice actor reading Helen roberts words.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
The complainant gives evidence that the sexual relationship commenced when
she was sixteen years old and when she was in
year eleven. And the question is can the Crown prove
that relying on her evidence beyond reasonable doubt. It's a
question of the reliability of the complainant on the key issues.
The trial judge did not her in the way her
(12:01):
honor approached it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Helen Roberts observed that Steven Odgers for Dawson, had argued
that the Christmas and Birthday cards did not contain any
overtly sexual content, and that therefore they shouldn't be seen
as evidence of a sexual relationship. Robert said, in fact,
that's exactly what you'd expect from someone like Dawson.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
The absence of direct reference to sexual content should not
be something that makes that evidence less compelling. It would
not be expected that he would, given the way in
which he was relating to her, which was as a
caring helpful, loving, older mature man. It would be unexpected
if the cards were to have overt sexual content on them.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Robert said. The card was signed all my love.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
We submit that it is powerful support for confidence in
an already formed sexual relationship. It's highly consistent with the
complainant's account that he had said he wanted to marry
her and that he wanted to be with her and
he would look after her on or around the complainant's
seventeenth birthday. The accused, a mature man as opposed to
an immature teenager, was confident in the existence of reciprocal
(13:10):
and permanent relationship, and that was because a sexual relationship
had commenced.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
The judges have retired to consider their decision. The Australians
podcast The Teacher's Pet was instrumental in bringing to light
the allegations that Chris Dawson was a murderer and a
child sex offender, allegations Dawson has always steadfastly denied. You
(13:38):
can listen to The Teacher's Pet and its companion podcast,
The Teacher's Trial and The Teacher's Accuser wherever you're listening
right now, and you can follow the course of Dawson's
appeals at the Australian dot com dot au
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