Teacher Rebecca Joynes found guilty of having sex with two pupils
Rebecca Joynes, a 30-year-old mathematics teacher, was convicted of engaging in sexual relationships with two of her teenage students, one of whom fathered her child. Joynes initiated the first relationship by purchasing a £350 Gucci belt for a 15-year-old student and subsequently inviting him to her Salford apartment.
Her arrest and subsequent suspension from her teaching position followed the exposure of these allegations.
While on bail, Joynes began a second relationship with another 15-year-old student, which resulted in her pregnancy. In both instances, she had exchanged flirtatious Snapchat messages with the boys prior to their encounters. The second student, referred to as Boy B, testified that their relationship escalated from kissing to intercourse when he turned 16.
During her trial, Joynes was accused of manipulating the jury’s sympathy by displaying a pink baby bonnet belonging to her child, who was taken from her shortly after birth. She is currently permitted to visit the child three times a week.
Joynes denied having sexual relations with Boy A and maintained that her relationship with Boy B only became sexual after he turned 16 and left school, which would have been legal. She admitted to inviting Boy A to her apartment and exchanging messages with him, attributing her actions to loneliness and a desire for attention following the end of a long-term relationship.
Her defense attorney, Michael O’Brien, argued that Boy A fabricated the allegations to save face among his peers, and that Boy B manipulated the timeline of his relationship with Joynes to retaliate against their breakup.
However, the prosecution argued that if the genders were reversed, there would be no sympathy for the defendant and no inappropriate discussions about the victims’ willingness.
The jury found Joynes guilty on six counts of sexual activity with the boys, two of which occurred while she was in a position of trust.
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