In England, a teacher got more than six years in jail for sexually abusing two of her 15-year-old students and even having one of their babies.
Rebecca Joynes, 30, is a high school teacher in Manchester. She was caught for the first time in October 2021. Greater Manchester Police say she was first arrested on suspicion of sexual behavior with a child after getting a tip that she abused a teenager, who has been named “Boy A” by the courts to protect his privacy.
In the end, the math teacher was charged with four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by someone in a place of trust.
When her hearing began in May 2024, the judges were told about Joynes’ past: The abuse started in 2021 after her school started teaching in person again after COVID lockdowns, according to two of her victims. She became a teacher for the first time in 2018.
Prosecutors said at the trial that Joynes, who was 28 at the time, was “flattered” by the attention she was getting from her young students. She had just ended a nine-year relationship. Prosecutors say she became interested in one student in particular and finally gave Boy A her phone number with one condition: her number was missing one digit, and Boy A, who was 15 at the time, had to figure it out on his own as a math exercise.
After that, Joynes and Boy A met on Snapchat and sent each other flirty texts. They then agreed to meet up outside of school. Investigators say the teen even lied to his parents about where he was so that his teacher could take him shopping at Manchester’s Trafford Centre mall. Joynes was seen smiling on CCTV cameras as she bought the teen a £350 (about $450) Gucci belt. Police say she then sexually abused him twice at her house.
Joynes told the boy, “Oh shut up!” when he said he wasn’t old enough to drive them from school to her house. The Times and the BBC both reported on what the court said.
As part of her bail, Joynes was told not to talk to anyone younger than 18 until she was arrested in October 2021. She was also fired from her job at the school. Joynes didn’t follow the rule that the cops set, though: This was soon followed by texts with “Boy B,” who was 15 at the time, over Snapchat, according to the BBC.
Police say that Joynes also raped Boy B several times and told him that she couldn’t get pregnant by him. During the hearing, she said that they only slept together after she quit her job.
But Boy B said that he wasn’t telling the truth because he had just found out that Joynes was pregnant during his first interview with the cops about what happened.
According to The Independent and Manchester Evening News, the ex-teacher had Boy B over for a “date night.” She decorated her apartment with rose petals and clues that led to “surprises.” One of the clues was a baby onesie that said “Best Dad,” which was her way of telling him she was pregnant, according to the boy.
Boy B wrote in a victim impact statement given at his sentencing, “I wondered if I was right to say things about the woman who was carrying my child. Since then I have thought about a lot of things and talked to a lot of people, and it has made me realize the full extent of the abuse that was done to me and the methods that were used to do it.”
The BBC says Joynes was arrested for breaking the terms of her bail and went to jail for five months until November 2023, when she was released on bail.
Police said that Joynes and Boy B’s daughter was born in early 2024, but she was taken away 24 hours after the birth, after an emergency court meeting.
Boy B said that Joynes’ decision not to let him be a part of her pregnancy was “one of the hardest things I had to deal with during this time” in his victim impact statement. The teen said that he wasn’t told anything about his checkups and doctor’s visits, not even the gender or due date of the baby.
During her May trial, Joynes was accused of trying to get pity by putting a pink baby’s bonnet around her waist. She was found guilty of all charges, and Judge Kate Cornell scolded her while she cried.
According to the BBC, Cornell told the former teacher, “You felt lifted and encouraged by their attention.” “There’s no real insight from you, you continue to deny the offenses and have been silent on the distressing impact on these boys.”
The Guardian reported that Joynes was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and a protection order from both boys. She will also have to register as a sex offender for life.
Boy B’s victim impact statement said, “I was forced, manipulated, sexually abused, and mentally abused.” “I’m really upset that this happened to me.” It was very dark for me in the months after the abuse. I felt like I had no way out.
“I had just lived a double life for 18 months behind my family’s back,” he said.
If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, call the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 and text “STRENGTH” to get in touch with a trained crisis counselor.
