A teacher told a jury she had ruined her “dream job” with stupid “mistakes” but denied having sex with two teenage pupils.
Rebecca Joynes, 30, admitted breaking safeguarding rules as a teacher by contacting the boys on Snapchat and then inviting them to her flat in Salford Quays.
She had already been suspended from her job at the high school and was out on bail for alleged sexual activity with Boy A, 15, when she allegedly took the virginity of a second boy, known as Boy B, 16, by whom she then became pregnant. Neither of the teens could be identified.
Joynes denies there was any sexual activity with Boy A, whose semen was recovered from her bedsheets, and said the relationship with Boy B only began after he left school and she lost her job as a teacher, so no legal offence was committed as she was no longer in a position of trust.
On Tuesday, the defendant was questioned by prosecutor Joe Allman for a second day, who pointed out “similarities” in both cases.
She said both boys were 15 when she began taking each of them to her apartment and both had been communicating with her on Snapchat, where messages are deleted and cannot be recovered by police.
In both cases, the activity was a secret from their parents and they both flirted with her, boy A, calling her “sexy,” and boy B, texting her “Get your tits out.”
“What did you say?” Mr. Allman asked.
“Smiling faces,” Joynes replied.
Mr Allman said that instead of stopping the behaviour, Joynes gave “ambiguous” answers.
“Can we remember that this is a 15-year-old boy?” Allman said.
—Yes, I know —Joynes said.
Joynes claimed that sexual relations with Boy B only began after he turned 16 and left school and she was fired from her job.
Mr. Allman said: “So even though you have had Boy B in your apartment since you were 15, the sexual relations only began five days after you were fired?”
“Yes,” Joynes replied.
Mr. Allman continued: “You didn’t find it sexy until the moment it became legal.”
Boy B told the jury that while he was still in school, Joynes first straddled him and kissed him in her apartment, and then on a second occasion they had sex.
This came after Joynes was arrested, suspended from her job and released on bail while police investigated allegations of contact with Boy A.
Joynes said Boy B reached out to her to check on her and, as she was feeling lonely, she welcomed the attention and a friendship developed.
They would go for walks and he would visit her at her flat, as she preferred to stay at her flat in Salford rather than with her parents in Wirral.
Joynes said: “Speaking to my family, I had made mistakes, I had basically ruined my chances of getting my dream job.”
Mr Allmans said Joynes had a supportive family, a sister and a best friend at home, but instead chose the company of a 15-year-old boy in Salford.
“How could that second scenario be attractive to you?” Allman asked.
Joynes said: “I was stupid, but I chose that option. I was obviously violating my bail conditions.”
The accused claimed that her relationship with Boy B soured and he became “controlling.”
Mr Allman said: “Let’s look at the reality of the situation. You were 29 years old, you lived in a flat, you were well off and you were driving an Audi A1. He was a child, you were an adult. He was a pupil, you were a teacher.
“He lived with his mom and dad, they weren’t supposed to know about your relationship with him. Who controlled who?”
Jurors at Manchester Crown Court heard that Joynes and Boy B married and could not decide whether to keep the baby or have an abortion.
Boy B says he tried to end the relationship but didn’t know how, called Joynes a “pedophile” and told her to find someone his own age, but claimed she put emotional pressure on him to stay in the relationship.
Allman quoted a letter he wrote to Boy B, in which he said: “Every inch of you is perfect. You are everything I ever dreamed of.”
Joynes said: “That was a year after he left school. I was in love with him. I was pregnant with his child.”
Joynes denies six charges of engaging in sexual activity with a minor, including two while in a position of trust.
The trial was adjourned until Wednesday morning.
