U.K. teacher accused of having sex with boy ‘wanted to be liked’ by students
· Toronto Sun
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A physical education teacher in the U.K. has denied accusations that she had sex with an underage student.
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Bronwen James, 30, of Chippenham, is on trial facing four charges of sexual activity with a 16-year-old boy at Bitterne Park School in Southampton in 2022, the BBC reported.
James has denied both flirting with and having sex with the teen, but told the court that she was “aware there was a rumour” of a flirtation between them at the time.
How the messages began
The teacher admitted that she accepted his Snapchat request after his school term had ended.
“We had a brief conversation but it wasn’t constant messaging,” she told the court, per the BBC . “There’d been a few messages, then maybe a few days’ break then maybe a few more messages.”
The former student accused James of grooming him, saying they had exchanged “flirtatious” messages before having sex at her house on several occasions.
Sex at her home?
She recounted one instance during the ongoing trial, saying she was walking her dog when the teen messaged her asking for a ride home.
James said she agreed because it was on her way home. But after picking him up, she said she stopped at her house for five minutes to drop off the dog and use the washroom. She maintained that no sex took place and that he remained downstairs.
Prosecutor Edward Culver, however, suggested otherwise, saying the boy was able to provide police with an accurate description of the upper level of her home.
“I suggest there’s a lot of mysteries in this case. It’s wholly implausible he was able to provide that plan unless he had been in your bedroom a number of times,” Culver said.
“It’s all explained by you having a relationship with him, having sexual activity with him,” he continued. “There’s no other plausible explanation.”
James replied: “It did not happen. He’s never been in my bedroom.”
The prosecutor questioned why the teen would make up the allegations.
“I don’t know why four years later, but I think at the time maybe he wanted to look cool in front of his mates,” she said. “Brag to his mates that he was having a relationship with a teacher.”
‘Wanted to be liked’
James was asked why she lied when she initially told police that the boy had never been in her vehicle or her home.
“Because I was aware that I already had a written warning and communicating with him in the first place was the wrong thing to do,” she said to the court, explaining that she didn’t want the situation to “blow up” because she “knew nothing had happened sexually.”
Nonetheless, James said she communicated with him because she “wanted to be liked” and “didn’t want to let people down,” per the U.K. Sun .
She said she “found it difficult to say no” to him when he asked her for a lift home.
James also told the court she was just 21 when she started teaching, confessing that she was “immature” and was not a good teacher.
“I think I was a very lenient teacher, I was not strict, there were behaviour policies I would not necessarily follow, such as using mobile phones in lessons,” she explained.
“But I did not want to upset them, I did not want to anger them. I wanted them to like me.”