by A math teacher was found guilty of having sexual relations with two of her high school students.
Rebecca Joynes, 30, was already suspended from her position at the institute and was out on bail after having sexual relations with Subject A, 15. She then began a sexual relationship with the other teenager, Subject B, with whom she later became pregnant.
The woman had unprotected sexual relations with Subject B, arguing that she could not get pregnant. However, at the end of the relationship, she surprised him with a baby item that said “the best dad,” which left the young man very shocked.
During the hearing, jurors heard that both young men, whose names cannot be revealed due to their ages, had sent Joynes suggestive messages via Snapchat before she invited them to her home for sexual encounters.
While the teenagers described her as a “very pretty” woman with a sweet voice, Joynes closed her eyes and grimaced. However, she began to shake and get nervous when the jury foreman read the guilty verdict on Friday after a two-week trial.
Regarding Subject A, she gave him all but one digit of her phone number and, as part of a math exercise, he had to figure out the last digit.
They then contacted each other via Snapchat and he sent her suggestive messages in which they agreed to meet secretly. He then took him to a shopping center and bought him a Gucci belt that cost USD 444, and they returned to the woman’s apartment, located in the Salford Quays area, where he said they had had sex. Police later found traces of her semen on her sheets.
Regarding subject B, the young man stated that the sexual activity began when he was 15 years old, with only kisses. When he was 16 he began having sexual relations, while he was still his student.
Joynes confessed that she suffered an “emotional breakdown” after being suspended from her job following the police investigation into her relationship with Subject A, and, for that reason, she had moved to her parents’ home in the Wirral district.
The woman was not feeling well emotionally when Subject B sent her a message asking how she was doing. “I thought he really cared about her,” Joynes said. The young man then sent him: “Show me your breasts,” to which Joynes replied: “Not tonight.”
After his birthday, the teenager lied to his parents and told them he was going to watch a Manchester United match, but instead he went to the teacher’s apartment.
He also explained to the jury how “nervous” he was when he lost his virginity to Joynes and how he told the woman not to expect so much from him because she was only 16 years old.
While the young man was undressing, the teacher said to him: “Oh! You lied to me”.
Furthermore, the teenager told the police that he considered them to be “friends with benefits” and claimed that they had sexual relations regularly while he was still a student.
He also explained that the bond deteriorated, since they argued a lot because the woman was jealous and controlling.
In an attempt to save the relationship, and just one day before Joynes was arrested for the second time, she invited Subject B on a date that included a game with sex scratch cards, rose petals, and notes hidden throughout the apartment. with clues that led to different “prizes”.
The final prize was a baby garment, which said “best dad” on the front. At the time of discovering it, the young man declared that he did not expect it and that he seemed very confused about the situation.
In a letter to Subject B, Joynes wrote: “Every inch of you is perfect. “You are everything I ever dreamed of.”
For her part, Joynes alleged that she never had sexual relations with Subject A, but that she did maintain a relationship with Subject B while she was suspended from her job. However, she revealed that the sexual encounters began after she was fired from her and he finished school at the age of 16, so there would be no crime.
This Thursday, after a deliberation that lasted nine hours, the teacher was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of four counts of inciting a minor to engage in sexual activity, two of which occurred while she was in a position of authority over to the students.
Prosecutor Joe Allman argued that the defendant was confident that jurors could have been more compassionate or had a different perspective on her behavior because she was a woman.
She also questioned why the teacher didn’t stop the teens’ behavior, including the Snapchat messages they sent her and the sexual names they called her. Therefore, she believes that the woman is really attracted to minors.
She was also accused of “trying to gain sympathy from the jury” by wearing a pink baby hat on the front of her pants so she could be easily distinguished.
Joynes previously told the jury that he had ruined his “dream job” by making stupid “mistakes” but denied having had sexual relations with minors.
After completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Sciences, the teacher began working at the institution in 2018, as part of the teacher recruitment program of the British organization Teach First.
The woman said that she was 28 years old and that she was going through grief after ending a relationship that lasted nine years. Likewise, she said she had not had a good time during the Covid-19 pandemic and she felt attracted to teenagers because she felt alone.
Michael O’Brien, the woman’s defense attorney, accused Subject A of bragging and claimed that Subject B “had misrepresented the dates” to say that sexual relations began when he was 15 and still her student.
The teacher tearfully told the jurors that they had taken away her possession of the girl she had with Subject B and that now she can only see her three times a week.
After the verdicts were announced, the woman’s parents showed no reaction, but a few meters away, the parents of the teenagers felt relieved by the sentence that Joynes received.
Judge Kate Cornell thanked the jurors and said she would need to review more information about the defendant before she could hand down a sentence in July.
The magistrate granted Joynes bail while he awaits sentencing, but warned him: “There is a girl in the middle who has done nothing wrong and is totally innocent, I understand that you will want to see her before the final decision.”
“However, don’t get your hopes up,” he concluded.
Jane Wilson, senior prosecutor in the north-west division of the UK CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) said: “Rebecca Joynes is a serial sexual offender. She was entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and protecting the young. However, she abused her authority and seduced them and then had sexual relations with them.”
He continued: “His conduct has had a lasting impact on the victims. “The CPS worked with Greater Manchester County Police to gather strong evidence to support the case presented to the jury, including witness statements, text messages between Joynes and the youths and CCTV footage.”
Finally, he concluded: “I want to thank the victims for their collaboration. Joynes will pay for what he did.”
Translation of María Luz Avila
