“I was forced and controlled, manipulated, sexually abused”

One of the two boys Rebecca Joynes had sex with during her time as a teacher said at the verdict that he was initially in “denial” but now understands that she manipulated and abused him.

He said he felt he had “betrayed” her by testifying, but now he understands that he was “coerced and controlled, manipulated, sexually and psychologically abused.”

The boy’s revelation and suffering were laid bare today during the sentencing hearing of Joyne at Manchester Crown Court. She was convicted of having sex with two pupils while working as a teacher. Following a trial in May this year, jurors found the 30-year-old guilty of six counts of sexual activity with a child.

READ MORE: The whole truth about the sex crimes committed by Greater Manchester teacher Rebecca Joynes can finally be told

The offences involved two teenagers she met through her work as a teacher at a school in Greater Manchester. The boys – and the school – cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Manchester Crown Court had previously heard that she took a 15-year-old boy – referred to as “Boy A” in press reports about the trial – to the Trafford Centre and bought him a £345 Gucci belt at Selfridges before taking him to her flat in Salford where they had sex.

She was suspended from her post and it later emerged that she was pregnant with a second boy – “Boy B” – whom she had met when he was 15 before they kissed.

The relationship developed into a sexual one. Joynes became pregnant and later had his baby, despite her telling him it was “almost impossible” to get pregnant due to health reasons. “To his great shock,” he learned she was pregnant after planning a “date” with rose petals and love letters.

She gave him a baby romper that said, “I love my daddy to the moon and back.”

Boy B admitted in a victim’s personal statement read out in court that at the time of his original statement he was “still in love with Rebecca” and was in “complete denial” about the abuse he had suffered.

He wrote: “After that, I held back and didn’t fully open up to people… Rebecca was so much on my mind that I fought until I dropped to protect her and didn’t want to hear a bad word about her.”

“I felt like I had betrayed someone I loved and wronged someone by testifying. For a long time I felt a lot of guilt. I wondered if it was right to testify about the woman who was carrying my child. Since then I have played many things over in my head and spoken to many people and I have become aware of the full extent of the abuse that was perpetrated against me and the tactics that were used.

“I was coerced and controlled, manipulated, sexually and psychologically abused. It is very disturbing that this happened to me and I have not received any support from any organization. The only way I can find help is to reach out to someone myself and get help from a family support worker.

“The months after the abuse were a very dark time, I felt cornered. I had just spent 18 months living a double life behind my family’s back. It was a huge psychological burden on me and my family. It tore my family apart, they were struggling to come to terms with the fact that they had sent me to a school where they believed it was a safe environment and this was the result.”

He went on to say that his parents “broke down day and night trying to get me to talk” and that he “held back a lot of things.”

“I thought I would be better off handling the matter on my own because it is a rare case and not very understandable for others,” he said.

He added: “The gender roles and inequality I face are absurd. I feel like this is seen as a lesser crime because of my gender than it would be the other way around… Despite the gender difference, the psychological impact is the same and has had a huge impact on me.”

He referred to the “poor delivery of services” and said he had been “let down”.

“The initiation of sexual abuse began at the age of 15 and I struggled to find any services that offer advice and support for men my age with sexual abuse. However, there are many for young women and children. I feel that sometimes these crimes go unnoticed because men bottle things up. I hope there will be more such services in the future,” he wrote.

He described the turmoil he felt during pregnancy and the thought of not being able to see his newborn baby was “heartbreaking.”

The victim said she “really suffered” when Joynes was released on bail. “I wondered how my tormentor could be at large. Shortly after I received the news, I had a panic attack and couldn’t breathe,” he said.

He said: “The uncertainty of it all has been a huge struggle. I realise that two and a half years have passed since her first arrest and no verdict has been reached. How can sex offenders walk freely in society? This is a huge problem, especially as I now have a child in the world.”

He criticized Joynes, who took “no responsibility” for her crimes and who, he said, made “false accusations” against him.

He said he had “never been in trouble in my life” and found the trial “intimidating.” He endured the “unrepentance” of his tormentor.

“She thinks she can do whatever she wants,” he said.

Joynes, of Pensby Road, Wirral, denied 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. The jury unanimously found her guilty.