Former Coach Faces Criminal Charges for Alleged Inappropriate Relationships with Players

Allegations of having had sexual connections with two of his former players have led to the local and federal criminal charges against the former Worthington Christian girls basketball coach, who committed himself on Wednesday.

Jason Dawson, 35, was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a residence on the 1600 block of Briarwood Avenue at around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

The Franklin County Coroner's office will do an autopsy, but Dawson's death is not being investigated as suspicious.

After being detained in North Carolina and extradited back to Columbus, where he was charged with having had sexual encounters with two of his former basketball teammates and classmates at Worthington Christian High School, Dawson was returned to Ohio last week.

A grand jury in Franklin County indicted Dawson on ten charges of sexual battery in April. Dawson was freed from detention upon the payment of a $100,000 bail in that particular instance.

In court documents, Dawson had indicated that he would be residing at an address on Briarwood Avenue while the matter was ongoing. Dawson was located at that residence on Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. District Court received a criminal complaint against Dawson on Tuesday, charging him with child pornography distribution and possession as well as sexual exploitation of a minor.

The girls were 16 years old when Dawson allegedly had intercourse with them and videotaped portions of their interactions, according to documents filed in federal court. Federal court filings state that the females told police about each other in November after learning about one another.




 

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