Chris Dawson will not be eligible for parole until 2040 after a judge sentenced him to an additional three years in prison for unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
The former rugby league player, who was sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment over the murder of his wife, Lynette, appeared in the NSW District Court to hear his latest sentence.
District Court Judge Sarah Huggett found Dawson guilty of unlawful sexual activity with a former student of his during the 1980s, who was 16 at the time.
The woman, referred to as AB in court, gave evidence during the trial claiming the pair kissed in Dawson’s car in 1980. Weeks later, Dawson took his 16-year-old student to his parents’ house in Maroubra, where they engaged in sexual activity.
“The victim did not tell anyone because the offender told her to keep it a secret,” Judge Huggett told the court today.
“The offender took the victim from the northern suburbs of Sydney to the eastern suburbs knowing he would be alone with her.”
Judge Huggett said Dawson “knew she was vulnerable” when he “singled her out” in the school he taught at in the 1980s and began grooming the teenager, while he was married to his wife, Lynette.
Dawson “maintains his innocence” in this case, the court heard, claiming AB was 17 at the time. Judge Huggett said Dawson does not appear to be “contrite or remorseful” over the conviction.
Dawson was convicted of murdering his wife, Lynette Dawson, in a seven-week long trial last year. The verdict came more than 40 years after she disappeared in 1982.
Chris Dawson will spend at least 18 years of a 24-year sentence behind bars for killing Lynette Dawson. It's not nearly long enough a sentence, but its better than many women killers get. RIP Lynette Dawson. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/sU2FV0BeUO
— The RED HEART Campaign (@campaign_rh) December 2, 2022
The case of Lynette’s disappearance was re-opened when a popular podcased The Teacher’s Pet attracted an international audience.
The Crown alleged Dawson killed his wife and disposed of her body so he could have an “unfettered relationship” with a teenage babysitter and his former school student.
In December, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murder, with a non-parole period of 18 years.
Now, with his latest three-year sentence set to begin on August 30, 2039, he will not be eligible for parole until 2040. By then, Dawson will be in his early 90s.
“His advanced age … are such that his experience of custody would be more arduous had it been the case that he were younger and of good health,” Judge Huggett said.