A TEACHER found half-naked in a bedroom with a teenage student wailed: “They don’t invite me to children’s parties anymore” after the verdict.
Eppie Sprung Dawson was convicted of having sex with a 17-year-old student after patrol officers found her in a car with the teenager.
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Eppie Sprung Dawson Credit: Pixel 8
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Teacher outside Dumfries Court Credit: Jim McEwan
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Patrol officers found Sprung Dawson in her car with the teenager Credit: John Gunion – The Sun Glasgow
She admitted having sexual relations with a person under the age of 18 while she was his teacher and in a position of trust.
The 38-year-old was placed on the sex offenders’ register for six months and given a six-month community payback order.
Yesterday, Sprung Dawson phoned BBC Radio Scotland to complain about the “stigma” she faces.
She said: “I was convicted of a sexual offence. I was a teacher and I had an affair with a 17-year-old student.
“So I have experience, in a way, living with the challenges that a person can face as a result of having a criminal record.
“I never experienced a prison sentence, but I certainly experienced the stigma.
“I mean, I had an extremely large amount of media coverage, many, many years after my conviction.
“And I would say it’s the hardest thing I’ve experienced.
“But I mean, of course, the same with people with sex offender convictions, especially in the face of the highest degree of stigma.
“And so things like employment, even things like not being invited to my daughter’s friends’ birthday parties.”
‘INVITED TO TEMPTATION’
In December 2012, after a school Christmas dance, Sprung Dawson drove to a secluded spot with the teenager and had sex with him.
The couple was discovered by a police patrol who noticed condensation on the car windows and found them in the front seat.
Sprung Dawson, then 26, taught English at St Joseph’s College, Dumfries.
She agreed to give a dyslexic teenager extra hours – but lost her job and her marriage after her disgrace.
Judge George Jamieson decided to spare Sprung Dawson a prison sentence following her conviction at Dumfries Sheriff Court in 2013.
He said to her, “You were there only to teach, but you were tempted and committed adultery.
“Your marriage is gone and your teaching career is gone. What you are accused of is a breach of trust.
“I don’t see anything to be gained by a prison sentence.
“If it weren’t for the fact that you were this young man’s teacher, there would be no crime.”
MISS ATTITUDE
Sprung Dawson ended up living with a teenager in her matrimonial home less than two months after she was placed on the sex offenders’ register.
But the teenager said they were not in a relationship and he later moved away.
Sprung Dawson was struck off the teaching register after her conviction and has since set up the charity Next Chapter Scotland.
The charity “‘helps anyone who has been involved in the criminal justice system to deal with the stigma and discrimination they may face throughout their lives.’
He aims to create a society that “no longer judges people based on their worst choices, but instead sees them as they are today.”
Next Chapter Scotland was awarded funds from the National Lottery and other charitable funds.
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