An ex-Salford teacher said she felt “lonely” and “liked” attention after a break-up but denied having sex with teenagers.
Rebecca Joynes said to a jury at Manchester Crown Court that she struggled during the Covid restrictions and a nine-year relationship breakdown. However she maintained she never had sex with the boys.
Joynes, 30, was already suspended from her high school job and on bail for alleged sexual activity with Boy A, 15, when she allegedly took the virginity of a second youngster, 16, who she later became pregnant by.
Joynes denies two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.
She has also pleaded not guilty to six charges of sexual activity with the two teenagers, who must not be named.
Joynes stood in the witness box to answer questions from Joe Allman, prosecuting.
Mr Allman began: “When an adult has an inappropriate relationship with a child, of 13, 14, 15, that’s the adult’s responsibility, nothing to do with the child being provocative, or making the first move, or trying to get the adult’s number, is it?”
“No,” Joynes replied.
Mr Allman asked: “Did you have a powerful sexual attraction to boys aged 15?”
“Not at all,” Joynes said.
Mr Allman said Boy A stayed at her flat, his semen was found on her bed sheets and Boy B went back to her flat and she ended up becoming pregnant by the teen.
The prosecutor added: “Do you see the position differently because you are a woman and not a man?”
“No,” replied Joynes.
Mr Allman reminded jurors Boy A had lied to his mother to see Joynes who picked him up in her car and took him to the Trafford Centre where she bought him a £350 Gucci belt before going back to her flat in Salford Quays.
“And you say you were not contemplating sex?” Mr Allman said.
“No,” replied Joynes.
She admitted she swapped messages on Snapchat with Boy A and agreed for him to stay at her apartment – but that he slept on her sofa and they did not have sex.
She said the plan was to order some food but Boy A told her he was not hungry, before adding: “I think you know what I want to do?”
Joynes said: “I laughed awkwardly and went to join him on the couch.
“He asked me how many people I had slept with. I said, probably not as many as you have.
“I thought he wanted something to happen. There was no way that was going to happen. I explained I had been in a nine-year relationship and really struggled with the break-up and I’m not that kind of person.
“I told him nothing sexual was going to happen.”
Mr O’Brien asked if there was anything she would change about how she behaved.
Joynes said: “Everything. As a teacher I should never have engaged in any form of contact with a student.
“I let my guard down. I caved in to the attention he was giving me. I struggled massively over the Covid period. I think I was obviously lonely and I liked the attention at the time, which sounds awful.”
Joynes said she was “curious” about Boy B contacting her on Snapchat and they “opened up” to each other as friends.
“I genuinely believed that he cared,” she said.
She again denied any sexual contact before Boy B had left school and only had sex with him after she had been dismissed from her job and she was therefore no longer a teacher and in a position of trust.
She gave birth to a daughter she had with Boy B.
The hearing for the ex-Salford teacher continues.
Recent Comments