British teacher jailed for sex with schoolboys

A British teacher who had sex with two teenage students and had a baby with one of them was sentenced Thursday to six and a half years in jail.

Rebecca Joynes, 30, was on police bail for sexual activity with one victim, identified as Boy A, when she began having sex with the second, Boy B, by whom she became pregnant.

Sentencing Joynes, a judge said she had been a "high achiever" who had thrown her career away and had her baby taken away from her through her own actions. Joynes groomed the schoolboys from the age of 15, exchanging messages on social media before engaging in sexual activity, prosecutors told the court.

She was found guilty by a jury of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, including two while being in a position of trust. Neither of the boys can be identified by name.

Passing sentence at Manchester Crown Court in northwestern England, Judge Kate Cornell told the former teacher she had behaved with "breathtaking arrogance". "You were the person in control, the person who should have known better," she said. "Instead, you abused that position of trust and exploited the privileged role for your own sexual gratification."

In a statement to the court, Boy B said he had been "coerced and controlled, manipulated, sexually abused, and mentally abused" by Joynes. The court previously heard that when police opened an investigation into her relationship with Boy A, she was warned not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.

But she then began a relationship with Boy B and later gave birth to his child. The baby was removed from her care within 24 hours. Outside court, Detective Constable Beth Alexander said there was still a lack of understanding about men and boys being the victims of sexual offences.

"They have had to read comments stating others are 'jealous' of them, and that they should be 'happy a young female teacher was interested in them', and this rhetoric is very damaging and dangerous", she told reporters. "Women can still be paedophiles. This term is not reserved only for men. Men and boys can still be victims of sexual abuse," she said.