A chemistry teacher had sex with a schoolboy up to 30 times after comparing herself to a porn model, a court heard. Sally-Anne Bowen, 65, is on trial at Harrow Crown Court accused of eight counts of indecent assault against two boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
She is alleged to have entered into sexual relationships with each of them in the late 1980s, when they were around 14 to 15 and she was in her mid-twenties. The teacher, of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, kissed one of the boys on multiple occasions and had sex with the other 'about 20 or 30 times', jurors heard.
Prosecution outlines exploitation
Prosecutor Madeleine Wolfe said: 'The prosecution do not suggest that Sally-Anne Bowen forced herself on either boy, and accept that, viewed superficially, they may have appeared to have been willing to participate in the sexual acts with Ms Bowen.'
'By flirting with them, by sexualising her relationships with them and by encouraging them to engage in sexual conduct with her, she exploited that position for her own sexual gratification.'
The court heard Bowen joined the school in her first job as a chemistry teacher and she spoke to the first boy even though he was not in her class. Ms Wolfe said: 'He felt she picked him out of all the other pupils at that school. He said she made him feel special.'
Alleged incidents in the 1980s
'As far as he was concerned, their relationship went to the point he thought she was his girlfriend – that he loved her and she loved him.' Jurors were told 'there was a lot of banter and rather than shut down sexually provocative conversations, she encouraged the boys to speak and joke openly about sex'.
Recalling one lunch break, the boy described flicking through a porn magazine with some friends when Bowen took it off them. But rather than confiscate it, he claims she opened it up and pointed to an image of one of the naked models inside and said 'that woman's "p***y" was similar to her own'.
This led to the boy taking the bus home with her to Golders Green where they kissed in her flat, jurors heard. Ms Wolfe said: 'For the summer holidays of 1988 he was a regular visitor to that bedroom. He thought they had sex in excess of 20 to 30 times.'
Second complainant's account
'He told police he was never allowed to stay the night. He thought the latest he was allowed to stay was about one o'clock in the morning.' The second complainant also recalls spending lunchtimes in the cafe with Bowen, the court heard.
Jurors were told he recalls being 'goaded' into kissing Bowen by the other boys and remembers touching her breasts while they were sat in the cafe. On several occasions, Ms Wolfe added, the 'besotted' boy walked the teacher home and the two kissed before parting ways.
'The prosecution suggests that this sexual behaviour towards a pupil was something that Sally-Anne Bowen should have put a stop to and it was an indecent assault on her behalf,' Ms Wolfe said.
She told jurors: 'Young as she was, she was not their peer, and she was not entitled to treat them as if they were adults capable of entering into sexual relationships with her.'
'She was a teacher, entrusted with the care and welfare of pupils, and the prosecution say she abused that trust for her own sexual gratification.'
'The issue in this case is not whether these boys appeared flattered, willing or besotted, as she describes it at the time. It is whether Sally-Anne Bowen, knowing her position and their vulnerability, crossed the boundaries that existed to protect them at that school in the 1980s.'
The trial continues.
