A former Manchester secondary school teacher has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for grooming and sexually abusing two teenage boys. Rebecca Joynes, 30, was found guilty of six counts of sexual activity with a child, two while in a position of trust, following a trial in May.
Sentencing Joynes at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Cornell described her conduct as displaying 'a breathtaking arrogance'. He said: 'You were the adult. You were the person in control, the person who should have known better and entrusted by the school and the boys and by their parents of caring for their sons. Instead, you abused that position of trust and exploited the privileged role for your own sexual gratification.'
The court heard that Joynes groomed both pupils from the age of 15. She was on bail for sexual activity with the first boy, referred to as Boy A, when she began having sex with the second, Boy B, whom she later gave birth to. In a victim impact statement read to the court, Boy B said he was 'coerced, controlled, manipulated, sexually abused and mentally abused'. He added: 'The months after the abuse happened to me was a very dark time. I felt backed into a corner. I had just lived a double life for 18 months behind my family’s back.'
Judge Cornell also addressed potential misconceptions about the case, stating: 'It may be asked what 15-year-old boy would not want to have sex with an older, attractive teacher? Surely they would be up for it. How can this be a crime? Well Miss Joynes, there is no doubt this is a crime. Both boys were very much victims, obviously unworldly and vulnerable to the advances from an older attractive woman.'
In addition to her prison sentence, Joynes was registered as a sex offender for life, issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years, and a restraining order in relation to both boys.
