Former Worthington Christian girls' basketball coach accused of having sex with minor

A former Worthington Christian girls' high school basketball coach and teacher who now lives in North Carolina has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a female juvenile on his team.

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 being held Tuesday in the Mecklenburg County Jail, awaiting extradition to Columbus.

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 led Worthington Christian to the Division III final in March 2022, where they lost to Cincinnati Purnell Marian High School 62-38 at the University of Dayton.

Dawson was voted as the Dispatch All-Metro Coach of the Year in 2022.

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.

@ShahidMeighanin

smeighan@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Worthington Christian basketball coach charged with sex with minor