A parent whose son was taught by predator Rebecca Joynes has criticised the school for its silence, questioning, “How many victims might there be?”
Her son was in the same year as two boys groomed from age 15.
One of these boys fathered a child with Joynes.
The mother accused the school of keeping quiet about Joynes’s arrest, saying other parents only learned about the allegations from a story about her first court appearance in The Sun.
Joynes, 30, was brought before a Manchester Crown Court judge in August 2022.
The mother said, “The first we heard about it was when the paper reported 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 think anything about it because they aren’t looking at it as we would as parents.
“The school didn’t say anything; even if you phoned them, it was a very closed book. Everyone is shocked.
“I am unhappy with how the school has 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 that she 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 mother also criticised Joynes for targeting boys she had 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 wholly 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.
“I think the effect it’s had on my son is that 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.
