‘Flirty’ teacher abused trust by having sex with boy, 16, court told
A “flirty” PE teacher “abused her position of trust” by having sex with a 16-year-old student at her home, a court has heard.
A “flirty” PE teacher “abused her position of trust” by having sex with a 16-year-old student at her home, a court has heard.
Bronwen James, 30, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of four charges of sexual activity with the boy at Bitterne Park School in Southampton, Hampshire.
Edward Culver, prosecuting, told the jury: “This is a case about a teacher who exploited her position to engage in sexual activity with one of her students.
“She flirted with him, exchanged messages with him, took him to her home and she had sex with him.”
The prosecutor said the complainant told police that James would allow pupils to use their phones in lessons and after she accepted his request to add her on Snapchat they exchanged “flirtatious” messages.
This led to her driving him to Weston Shore, Southampton, where they parked and kissed in her car, Mr Culver said.
He said that following this, James took the student to her house where they had sex, which happened on three or four occasions.
He added: “The tennis was on at Wimbledon. They began watching TV before kissing and touching each other.
“She took her clothes off and then he took his clothes off.”
Mr Culver said that the pair performed sex acts on each other before they had unprotected sex.
He added that the boy “felt overwhelmed and excited at the time, this schoolboy”.
Mr Culver said: “They messaged daily and Ms James told (the boy) she cared about him, they even discussed moving in together.
“Ms James told him she loved him and wanted to move away with her.”
The prosecutor said that the school was made aware of the incidents after another student showed a teacher some text messages apparently sent between the defendant and the complainant.
He said: “They suggested a sexually charged relationship, he was named as ‘number 8’ in the messages as a cover, him being the eighth man she had slept with. Her photo was visible on the phone screen.”
He added that the jury would be shown photographs of the boy at the defendant’s home with her dog, with features of the property matching photos on Rightmove.
Mr Culver said that James did not answer questions in police interview and instead provided a prepared statement in which she suggested the complainant “had been put up to make up these allegations against her by another student”.
James denies the charges and the trial continues.