Arabic version: إدانة معلمة في ويلتشير بإساءة معاملة تلاميذ

According to BBC News, former PE teacher Bronwen James, 30, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, has been convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy after previously admitting offences involving two teenage girls. James was found guilty at Winchester Crown Court of three counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

James had admitted nine sexual offences against two teenage girls, including offences against a pupil at Bitterne Park School in Southampton and another at Hardenhuish School in Chippenham. The offences included six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child and one count of making indecent images of a child.

Prosecutors said during the five-day trial that James entered a “flirty” relationship with the boy, communicating with him through Snapchat before they had sex at her house “three or four” times. The jury found her guilty of the three charges by a majority of 11 to one and acquitted her of a fourth charge. James denied the allegations, saying the boy had made them up to “look cool”.

The court heard that legal restrictions had prevented reporting of James’ guilty pleas against the two girls until after the jury delivered its verdict, and jurors had not been told about those pleas beforehand. James was ordered to surrender her passport and will be monitored with an electronic tag until Monday, when she will be taken to prison ahead of sentencing.

Senior crown prosecutor Bethany Adams said James had been trusted to educate and protect children but instead used that trust to groom and sexually abuse three students. Adams described the offending as “a sustained pattern of predatory behaviour against children in her care”.