Chris Dawson’s first interaction with former student was returning a topless photo to her, court hears

Chris Dawson’s archetypal enactment with a pupil he’s accused of having an unlawful intersexual narration with was to instrumentality a topless photograph of her, a tribunal has heard.

The photograph was taken connected a picnic erstwhile the erstwhile student, known successful tribunal lone arsenic AB, was 14 oregon 15, and had been circulating astir her school.

AB gave grounds to a closed tribunal connected Tuesday. Before helium saw a representation of her successful a “vulnerable position,” she “went unnoticed” by Dawson, she said.

• Sign up for Guardian Australia’s escaped greeting and afternoon email newsletters for your regular quality roundup

“I truly had precise small to bash with him,” she told the NSW territory tribunal connected Tuesday.

“There was nary need, helium wasn’t my teacher. I was ensconced successful my societal radical and trying to navigate that mean 15-year-old life,” she said.

Dawson, 74, is connected proceedings accused of engaging successful intersexual enactment with AB betwixt July and December 1980 portion she was aged 16 and his pupil connected Sydney’s bluish beaches.

The carnal cognition charge, which Dawson denies, is simply a humanities offence replaced successful 1986.

Prosecutors volition person to beryllium immoderate alleged intersexual enactment occurred portion helium was her teacher, nationalist defender Claire Wasley said.

Crown authoritative Emma Blizard said it is not successful quality that intersexual enactment took spot betwixt the two.

“The cardinal contented volition beryllium 1 of timing and erstwhile events commenced,” Blizard said.

Dawson said helium wanted AB successful his people to get to cognize her, telling her that galore times, the tribunal heard.

“Because it softened me,” she said.

“I felt special, due to the fact that he’d said that.”

He paid peculiar attraction to her and she began confiding difficulties she was having astatine home, earlier helium allegedly enactment his manus connected her bare genu astatine a sports carnival.

“That was the archetypal clip helium paid maine that intimate – arsenic I recall, arsenic I spot it – intimate attention,” she said.

He began attending the licensed premises wherever AB and different students drank underage connected Friday nights, telling her stories astir “how fabulous helium was” arsenic “part of the grooming process”.

“It conscionable got retired of power successful presumption of the magnitude of clip I was spending with him,” she told the court.

She was besides brought on to workout classes Dawson taught with his duplicate brother.

“When 1 duplicate was moving the people the different was retired the backmost with whichever pupil was their spot astatine the time,” AB said.

Wasley reminded Judge Sarah Huggett she is not required to justice Dawson by modern ineligible oregon motivation standards, and what she knows astir his condemnation for execution should person nary bearing connected the trial.

Sexual enactment commenced betwixt Dawson and AB portion she was nether 18 and a pupil but not portion helium was her teacher, Wasley said.

AB told the tribunal she was 16 and Dawson was her teacher erstwhile the archetypal alleged intersexual enactment occurred astatine his parents’ location astatine Maroubra successful Sydney’s south.

He told her to support it a secret, AB said, and it continued, astatine Dawson’s home, successful his bureau astatine the school, and successful the backmost of his car erstwhile helium removed the babe seat.

He near notes successful her container portion she sat successful classes and near coded messages connected her schoolhouse reports, noting successful November 1980 she was a “pleasure to teach”.

“He wasn’t referring to teaching sports coaching … helium thought it was precise clever to beryllium capable to enactment that connected a nationalist document,” she said.

Dawson was jailed successful 2022 for murdering his wife, Lynette, successful January 1982, with a justice uncovering helium was motivated by a tendency to prosecute an unfettered narration with a student.

Health issues successful his aged property mean Dawson volition beryllium fixed much predominant breaks during the judge-alone trial.

His lawyers observed Dawson having difficulties pursuing the proceedings and helium volition look via audiovisual nexus alternatively than being ferried to and from situation to be tribunal from Wednesday.