WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
Parents of a young dad who tragically drowned on a camping trip with friends have been horrified to find he had sex with a female teacher when he was 17.
Dean Gray, 25, was camping with his younger brother and some of their closest friends in October 2021 when he dislocated his shoulder while swimming across the swollen Namoi River near Narrabri, around 500km north -West of Sydney.
His friends told him to stay put while they went for help, but by the time they returned he was gone. His body was found five days later.
Now Dean’s mother, Cherina, has revealed her horror at finding out her son had sex with a teacher as she looked at her phone after his tragic death.
“Can you imagine what it’s like to read for a mother?” Ms Gray said Nine.
Dean Gray, 25 (pictured with his mother, Cherina) drowned while on a camping trip in October 2021. His mother later discovered horrific messages on his phone with a teacher
Some of the thousands of messages shared between the teacher and Dean, which began when he was just 17
“It’s not just about a young boy having an affair with a teacher; this is definitive grooming and abuse – an abuse of power that someone has done in the most disgusting way.
The posts began when Dean was 17 during school vacation in 2013.
The teacher, who cannot be named for legal reasons, congratulated Dean on his performance on a school test.
But the tone of the conversation has changed over time.
“It’s getting more and more regular. They communicate a lot every day and it comes subtly in a little kiss or a little heart or a wink and things like that,” Ms Gray said.
The teacher even joked about going to jail
The teacher acknowledged their significant age gap and even joked about being jailed for involvement with a student.
In another, Dean said ‘marry me’ to which the professor replied, ‘Okay. When I get out of jail after bribing you’.
The thousands of messages, which took an entire day to read to Dean’s mother, only ended when the teacher’s partner found out about the affair.
Dean Gray, pictured with his fiancée Taylor Baxter and their son Bostin, disappeared on a camping trip
Pictured: The Namoi River near Narrabri, where Dean disappeared
At the time of Dean’s death, he shared a two-year-old son named Bostin with his fiancée, Taylor Baxter.
But before he started a relationship with Taylor, he met his first girlfriend, Caitlyn Butler, while studying at TAFE after leaving school.
Ms Butler told Nine Dean that he slept with one of his teachers in a game of Truth or Dare.
“He said, ‘I slept with one of my school teachers,’ and the whole room went silent,” Butler said.
“Dean was young, he couldn’t tell right from wrong. It was more like ‘it’s cool, I’m fucking my teacher’.’
Dean’s parents first learned of the alleged relationship in 2016 after a family member revealed details of the abuse.
At the time, they reported the allegations to the police and the Department of Education, but an investigation was closed due to “insufficient evidence”.
It was only after Dean died in 2021 that his mother discovered the messages between her son and the teacher.
She took screenshots to the Ministry of Education and the police.
The teacher was removed from his post within 48 hours while a second investigation was opened.
Dean and Taylor (pictured together) got engaged around 2018, before having son Bostin
However, police said the Director of Public Prosecutions advised there was insufficient admissible evidence to bring charges.
The Department of Education’s investigation is ongoing.
Dean’s parents have said they want a criminal conviction, but feel that is unlikely at this stage.
“But if (the teacher) can be named publicly… then that’s still a win. It would be a win for our son,” Ms Gray said.