Worthington Christian 'sickened, outraged' by sex charges against ex-girls' basketball coach
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
A Worthington Christian school official said Wednesday that he felt "sickened, outraged and betrayed" after learning their former girls' high school basketball coach and teacher has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a female student-player there.
Jason Paul Dawson, 35, who now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been charged with two felony counts of sexual battery involving a minor and one felony count of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, according to Franklin County Municipal court records. A warrant was issued for Dawson's arrest on March 21.
Dawson was arrested Monday night by Charlotte police. He was ordered held Tuesday on $1 million bond in the Mecklenburg County Jail. Columbus police have until April 24 to extradite him, court records indicate.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the female juvenile told a Columbus police detective in an audio recorded interview that she and Dawson, who was also her basketball coach, were in a sexual relationship from November 2020 to 2023.
The minor told the detective that she and Dawson had sex approximately 70 times within that timeframe. The victim also provided text messages and evidence of the relationship, including a video that Dawson filmed of the two having sex that he sent to her, according to the affidavit.
Dawson was a teacher at Worthington Christian and head coach of the girls' high school basketball team from 2019-2022. He graduated from the school in 2006 and was first hired to Worthington Christian as a teacher and coach in 2014, according to the district.
As girls' basketball coach, He led Worthington Christian to the Division III final in March 2022, where they lost to Cincinnati Purcell Marian High School 62-38 at the University of Dayton. Dawson was voted as the Dispatch All-Metro Coach of the Year in 2022.
In a statement, Worthington Christian's Head of School Mike Hayes said that he, like others associated with the school, was "sickened, outraged, and betrayed that anyone who we employed would abuse a child."
"The behavior described in these reports is despicable, criminal, and against everything we stand for and teach," Hayes said. "That’s why we’re committed to providing our full cooperation with law enforcement to bring this former employee to justice. Sexual assault is never acceptable, and we will not stand for it."
Hayes said in the statement that "no one — student, parent, or anyone else — ever reported to us any alleged criminal activity about this former employee," and that if the school had become aware it would have immediately contacted law enforcement.
Hayes further said that Dawson departed the district in April 2022 for another job after "two incidents of employment discipline on matters not related to allegations of criminal activity, but clear violations of our policies."
Hayes said that Worthington Christian is currently on spring break, but will be offering additional counseling and pastors on Monday and encourages anybody with information to come forward and contact police.
Worthington Christian is a college preparatory Christian school founded in 1973 which now has three campuses (K-2, 3-6 and 7-12) with a total enrollment of about 1,035 students, according to the school's website. The J. Thomas "Tom" Anglea Upper School Campus, named for a former principal, is located at 1485 Lazelle Road, Westerville. The other two campuses, as well as the administrative offices, are located in Worthington.
Dispatch reporters Bethany Bruner and Cole Behrens contributed to this report
@ShahidMeighan
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio high school basketball coach charged with having sex with minor
