Sally-Anne Bowen, 65, is standing trial at Harrow Crown Court on charges of historical sexual abuse involving two boys at a secondary school in Finchley, North London, when they were aged 14 and 15 in the 1980s.
Giving evidence previously, the first alleged victim told jurors he slept with Bowen “about 20 or 30 times”. In a police interview, the victim said that on one occasion, the boys were looking at a porn magazine when Bowen, then in her 20s, took it from them. Instead of confiscating it, she “pointed to an image of a naked woman” and said “that’s what my p***y looks like”, the court heard.
Victim's account and Bowen's response
The boy first disclosed the alleged abuse to a partner, who told him to go to police. When confronted, Bowen claimed the boy was a “bit of a nuisance” and “besotted” with her in a police interview in 2015. She described the sexual relationship claims as “pure fantasy”.
The victim strongly denied being a fantasist and branded the suggestion “quite insulting”.
Former pupil's testimony
A former pupil, who did not know the two alleged victims, told Harrow Crown Court how Bowen caused “a stir” when she started at the school, which normally had male or older female teachers. He said: “The topics of conversation in class often strayed away from chemistry and became quite sexual.”
The witness claimed she was “very flirtatious” in class and told students she enjoyed performing sex acts on her boyfriend, reports the Sun. He said on one occasion, Bowen sat on a desk and caught the attention of the class before slowly opening her legs revealing her underwear. He also said there was another time when a boy in the class was reading a “sex manual”, which he believed to be the Kama Sutra, and Bowen discussed the merits of different sexual positions, “telling us what she had tried and asking what we had tried”. He claimed this “became the focus of the lesson”.
Second alleged victim and trial details
As a result of the allegation from the first victim, Bowen faced a Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) hearing in 2022. The court heard a second alleged victim read about this hearing online, and came forward following encouragement from his wife and family.
He alleged that Bowen let him touch her breasts, put his hand near her crotch – to which “she would not react negatively” – and kiss her during lunch at a cafe near the school. He claimed he was “goaded” by other boys at the school into kissing “young and attractive” Bowen. In his police interview, he said Bowen was “possibly the hottest teacher in our school”.
Bowen denies eight counts of indecent assault. The trial continues.
