‘How many victims might there be?’, asks mum of teen taught by sex predator Rebecca Joynes
A PARENT whose son was taught by sex predator Rebecca Joynes slammed the school for its silence and asked: “How many victims might there be?”
He was in the same year as two boys groomed from 15.
One had Joynes’s child.
The mum accused the school of keeping quiet about Joynes’s arrest, saying other parents only learnt about the allegations when they saw a story about her first court appearance in The Sun.
Joynes, 30, was first hauled before a judge at Manchester crown court in August 2022.
The mum said: “The first we heard anything about it was when it came out in the paper that she had been arrested and charged.
“We asked our son and he told us some boys had been sharing stuff so we heard it through the grapevine. When I asked why he didn’t speak up he said ‘Well he was just being a boy’.
“They don’t really think anything about it because they aren’t looking at it the same way we would as parents.
“The school didn’t say anything and even if you phoned them it was a very closed book. Everyone is shocked.
“I am unhappy with how the school have dealt with it. They should have a duty of care towards all the kids who have come into contact with Joynes.
“She was at the school for four years so will have taught a lot of boys.
“But, as far as I’m aware, the school has taken no steps to check if there were other victims.
“I’m confident my child wasn’t exposed to Joynes as she wasn’t his teacher, but I wonder how many other boys were.”
The mum also hit out at Joynes for targeting boys she will have known since they were “babies”.
She said: “If you’ve taught them from when they were 11 you’ve seen them as babies and targeting someone when they are 16 and you’re an adult is still completely inappropriate.
“It happened numerous times. And she’s had a baby with one of the boys.
“For his parents I can’t even imagine the trauma of sending your kid to a school so they are safe and then this happens.
“Watching the case she doesn’t seem remorseful at all. How she can deny it is beyond me.
‘Child’s trauma’
“I think the effect it’s had on my son is the people who have power and you should feel safe with aren’t always the ones you can trust.”
On Friday Joynes, of Salford, was convicted of four counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, and two counts of having sex with a child while in a position of trust.
She could be jailed when sentenced in July.
We approached the school for comment.