CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses child sexual abuse.
Convicted murderer and former school teacher Chris Dawson has lost a court bid to quash his conviction for sexually abusing a student in the 1980s.
As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed his appeal by a 2-1 majority.
Dawson was found guilty in 2023 of one count of carnal knowledge of a student aged under 17, following a judge-alone two-week trial in the NSW District Court.
He was already in prison, serving 24 years after he was convicted in 2022 of murdering his wife Lynette in 1982.
A year was added to his non-parole period after he was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with the then-pupil, and sentenced to three years in prison with a two year non-parole period.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed his appeal by a 2-1 majority. (Source: Jenny Evans / Getty Images)
An NSW District Court judge said he used a degree of manipulation and exploitation to breach the trust of the 16-year-old girl, who was known by the pseudonym AB and cannot be named for legal reasons.
Judge Sarah Huggett found Dawson guilty and cited a card he sent AB in 1981 as “powerful evidence” that the two had already engaged in sexual activity.
In the card, Dawson wrote AB was “the most beautiful girl in the world”, and signed it off as “love always, God”.
As reported by ABC News on Friday, the now-76-year-old did not dispute that there was sexual activity, but did dispute the timing and claimed she had already turned 17 when their relationship became intimate.
The appeal was heard by Justices Kristina Stern, Peter Hamill and Sarah McNaughton.
Justice Hamill dissented in part and reached a different conclusion on an appeal ground that the verdict was unreasonable, stating he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that sexual activity occurred before December 1980.
Justice Hamill said he would have quashed the conviction and entered a verdict of not guilty, per the publication.
Lead image: Getty
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