Rebecca Joynes: Teacher who had sex with two schoolboys jailed

A teacher who had sex with two schoolboys and became pregnant by one of them has been jailed.

Rebecca Joynes groomed the two boys from the age of 15, initially exchanging messages on social media, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The 30-year-old had previously been convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with another child.

Joynes wept and shook in the dock as she was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

The trial heard that Joynes was 28 when she left a nine-year relationship and was “flattered” by the attention from teenage boys.

Neither of the two teenagers – known as Boy A and Boy B throughout the trial – can be identified because of their ages.

Joynes gave birth to baby Boy B in early 2024, with the child taken from her within 24 hours.

In a victim impact statement, Boy B said “one of the hardest things” was not knowing anything about the baby.

He added: “I struggled to come to terms with the abuse I suffered, I was in complete denial.”

During the trial, he said he felt he had “betrayed someone he loved and done harm by giving evidence”, but had since become aware of the “full extent” of the abuse and “tactics used”.

He said he was “coerced, controlled, manipulated, sexually and mentally abused,” adding: “I will forever be Rebecca’s victim and forever linked to her through our child.”

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Kate Cornell told Joynes: “You were the adult, the person in control.

“You should have known. You failed to enforce the boundaries of appropriate conduct, but you deliberately transgressed them.”

The trial heard that Joynes “laughed off” the inappropriate comments instead of stopping the behaviour.

She gave Boy A all but one of the digits in her cell phone number as a math problem-solving exercise in which he had to find the last digit.

They then connected on Snapchat and he sent her flirty text messages, with the pair agreeing to meet in secret.

Boy A lied to his mother that he was staying at a friend’s house after school, but instead Joynes picked him up and took him to the Trafford Centre, where she bought him a £350 Gucci belt.

Judge Cornell said CCTV footage of Joynes buying the belt showed that “your seductive body language and eye contact could hardly be a clearer indication of grooming behaviour”.

Back at his apartment, Joynes had sex twice with Boy A.

The next day, the boy’s mother noticed a hickey on her son’s neck, which he dismissed as “nothing.”

The court heard she burst into the school reception as police were called to the scene.

Joynes was later released on bail on condition that she have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.

She told the trial she then returned to her parents’ house in Wirral after suffering a “nervous breakdown” and was at her lowest point when Boy B sent her a message on Snapchat.

He later told police they regularly had unprotected sex at his Salford Quays flat and that Joynes had told him she could not get pregnant.

Joynes was arrested for breaching her bail conditions and spent five months in custody until she was released on bail in November last year.

Boy B said in his statement that it had a “huge mental impact” on him and his family.

He said social services told him Joynes refused to let them inform him of the baby’s due date, sex or health.

“The thought of not being able to see my child was heartbreaking,” he added.

Judge Cornell said Joynes was a “high-achieving woman” who had ruined her career and had her baby taken away by her own actions.

“You felt encouraged and energized by their attention,” she added.

“You have not really provided any details, you continue to deny the crimes and you remain silent on the distressing impact on these boys.”

Investigating Officer Beth Alexander, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “School should be a safe place for children.

“It is clear from some of the public comments made following Joynes’ conviction that there is still a lack of understanding towards men and boys who are victims of sexual offences.

“They must have read comments saying that others were ‘jealous’ of them and that they ‘should be happy that a young female teacher is interested in them,’ and this rhetoric is very damaging and dangerous.

“Women can still be pedophiles; it’s not a term reserved for men. Men and boys can still be victims of sexual abuse.”

Additional reporting by PA News.