A teacher who had sex with two schoolboys and became pregnant by one of them has been sentenced to prison.
Rebecca Joynes was responsible for the boys' sexual acts from the age of 15, first exchanging messages via social media, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The 30-year-old was previously convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with another child.
Joynes wept and trembled in the dock as she was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
During the trial it emerged that Joynes was 28 when she emerged from a nine-year relationship and that she felt “flattered” by the attention of teenage boys at school.
Neither of the teenagers, referred to as Boy A and Boy B during the trial, can be identified by their age.
'Flirtatious'
In a victim statement, Boy B, the father of Joynes' child, said: “I struggled to come to terms with my abuse, I was in complete denial.”
He said he felt he had “betrayed someone I loved and done an injustice by testifying”, but that he now realised “the full extent” of the abuse and “tactics used”.
He said he was “coerced, controlled, manipulated, sexually abused and mentally abused,” adding: “I will always be Rebecca's victim and will forever be connected to her through our child.”
During the hearing, Judge Kate Cornell told Joynes: “You were the adult, the one in control.
“You should have known better. You did not uphold the boundaries of decent behavior, but deliberately exceeded them.”
During the trial it was heard that Joynes would 'laugh off' inappropriate comments rather than stop the behaviour.
She gave Boy A all the digits of her cell phone number, except one, as a math exercise, requiring him to calculate the last digit.
They then connected on Snapchat and he sent her flirty messages, then they arranged to meet in secret.
Boy A lied to his mother that he was going to stay with a friend 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 flirtatious body language and eye contact could hardly be a clearer indication of grooming behaviour”.
Back in her apartment, Joynes had sex with Boy A twice.
The next day, the boy's mother noticed a love bite on her son's neck, which he dismissed as “nothing.”
The court heard she stormed the school reception when police were called about the case.
Joynes was subsequently released on bail on condition that she not have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.
She told the trial she moved back in with her parents in Wirral after a 'breakdown' and was at rock bottom when Boy B messaged her on Snapchat.
He later told police they regularly had unprotected sex at her Salford Quays apartment and that Joynes had told him she must 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.
In early 2024, she gave birth to a child, who was taken from her within 24 hours.
Boy B said in his statement that the situation had taken a “huge mental toll” on him and his family.
He said social services told him that Joynes would not inform them of the baby's due date, gender or health.
“The thought of not being able to see my child again was heartbreaking,” he added.
Judge Cornell said Joynes was a “successful woman” but that through her own actions she had thrown away her career and had her baby taken from her.
“You felt uplifted and energized by their attention,” she added.
“You show no insight whatsoever. You continue to deny the violations and you remain silent about the terrible impact on these boys.”
'Harmful and dangerous'
Det Con Beth Alexander, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “School should be a safe place for children.
“It is clear from the public comments following Joynes’ conviction that there continues to be a lack of understanding when it comes to men and boys who are victims of sexual crimes.
“They had to read comments saying that others were ‘jealous’ of them and that they ‘should be happy that a young female teacher was interested in them.’ This rhetoric is very damaging and dangerous.
“Women can still be pedophiles; this term is not reserved for men only. Men and boys can still be victims of sexual abuse.”
Additional reporting from PA News.
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