Former high school coach facing 10 sexual battery charges extradited to Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A former Westerville high school girls basketball coach has been extradited to Columbus from North Carolina on alleged sex crimes involving two minors.

According to Franklin County Municipal Court records, Jason Dawson, 35, was initially charged with two counts of sexual battery of a minor and one count of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, third-degree and second-degree felonies, respectively.

Dawson was a teacher and coach at Worthington Christian in Westerville when he reportedly met one of the victims during her sophomore year. The victim told police that her relationship with Dawson turned sexual in January 2021 when she was 16 years old and ended in September 2023.

The victim said she and Dawson engaged in sexual activity approximately 100 times, court records state.

The victim told police that Dawson recorded the two having intercourse multiple times and would then send the videos to her. According to court records, police found three of those videos on the victim’s cell phone.

According to the Franklin County Municipal Court complaint, the second victim alleges the sexual conduct took place on school property in November 2020.

Dawson was the girls’ basketball coach at Worthington Christian School for three seasons until 2022, when he left for a job in North Carolina. He was arrested in Cornelius, N.C. and was being held in Mecklenburg County Jail on a $1 million bond before being extradited to Columbus on Tuesday.

On Wednesday the case was transferred from municipal court to Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, where records state he is being charged with 10 counts of sexual battery. He is scheduled for an arraignment hearing on Friday.