High-achieving student groomed by sexual predator teacher Rebecca Joynes says he was in ‘denial’ over abuse

A high-achieving student who was groomed for sex by his school teacher has spoken of the extent of the abuse he suffered and his “distress” at not being able to see the child they were dating.

Rebecca Joynes, 30, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of six counts of sexual activity with children. After sleeping with one student, she became pregnant with another while on bail.

The jury heard that Joynes, who taught at a school in Greater Manchester, engaged in flirtatious exchanges with boys on Snapchat after she went through a difficult break-up following a nine-year relationship.

With the first boy, Boy A, she bought him a Gucci belt at the Trafford Centre and then they had sex in their flat.

Then, despite being arrested and suspended from work, she targeted a second boy, Boy B, who testified that he began having sex when he was 15 and had full intercourse at 16, while he was still a schoolboy.

She became pregnant and gave birth to a boy earlier this year, but the baby was taken from her within 24 hours.

Following Joynes’ sentencing at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday, Greater Manchester Police released a victim impact statement read to the court by Boy B, which revealed the emotional toll of the abuse.

It read: “I had trouble coming to terms with my abuse, I was in complete denial. As a result, I was holding back and not opening up fully to people.

“In contrast, Rebecca was in my head. I argued until I was blue in the face protecting her and never heard a bad word said about her. I felt I had betrayed someone I loved and was wrong to give evidence. I felt a huge sense of guilt for a long time.

“I wondered whether I had the right to give evidence about the woman who carried my child. Since then, I have been going through a lot of things in my head and talking to a lot of people. It has made me realise the full extent of the abuse that was perpetrated against me and the tactics that were used to do it.

“I was coerced, controlled, manipulated, sexually and emotionally abused. It’s very upsetting that this happened to me. The months after the abuse hit me were a very dark time, I felt my back was against the wall. I had just been living a double life behind my family’s backs for 18 months.

“It had a huge psychological impact on me and my family. It tore my family apart, they struggled to come to terms with the fact that they sent me to a school where they thought it was a safe environment, and it was. I went to school regularly and graduated with straight A’s.

“My parents were breaking down every day and night trying to get me to talk, I was holding back a lot of things. I thought it would be better if I dealt with it myself because it was a rare case and not very familiar to others.

“One of the hardest things I had to deal with during this time was not being able to be present for my pregnancy. Social services contacted me in October and said that Rebecca had refused to tell them anything, including my due date, gender, health status. The thought of not being able to see my baby was heartbreaking.

“I also really struggle with the idea of ​​having another relationship now because of the negative experiences I had with Rebecca. Ultimately, I will forever be a victim of Rebecca and forever connected to her through our child.”

Joynes was found guilty of six counts of sexual activity – four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.