this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2025
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Rebecca Joynes is currently serving a six and a half year prison sentence

A teacher who was convicted for having sex with two boys, becoming pregnant by one, has been banned from the profession.

Maths teacher Rebecca Joynes, 31, was jailed for six and a half years in July last year after being found guilty of six counts of sexual activity with a child, after sleeping with one pupil before falling pregnant by a second while on police bail.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) convened earlier this month via a virtual hearing, which Joynes did not attend, to consider her professional conduct. A panel recommended she be banned from teaching.

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[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 262 points 5 days ago (7 children)

Rape. She raped those boys. Use the correct terminology.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 85 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

Legally speaking women cannot be rapists in the UK at least from what I remember.

[–] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 79 points 5 days ago (4 children)
[–] BussyCat@lemmy.world 22 points 5 days ago (4 children)

They define rape as penetration

Good news is she did seem to actually be punished with a sizable prison sentence (by uk standards)

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[–] foggenbooty@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (7 children)

I dunno. I almost think there should be a different term or word for it. I'm not saying it's OK at all, I just think bundling so many sexual crimes under one name isn't great.

For example; I was a horny teen and probably would have been into a teacher like that. It would have been wrong and it likely would have messed up different aspects of my life. I'm not condoning it or trying to downplaying it, but I feel if I had been violently penetrated against my will by a male teacher the trauma would be a whole different kind.

So yeah, I don't know if we should call it rape, but I recognize the boys were underage and taken advantage of, and the crime absolutely deserves to be punished. I'm also the person who get's all worked up by modern loose usage of terms like WMD and many others, so I know I can be a handful.

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[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 38 points 5 days ago (6 children)

Do I look like I give a fuck what the law says? They were underage, ergo could not give consent, ergo it was rape. Also power dynamics teacher pupil makes it even more rapey

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 86 points 5 days ago (6 children)

In the UK, the definition of rape requires penetration from the offending party by their genitalia. So unless the teacher has a monster clit she used to anally penetrate the boys, the definition of rape can't apply. For that there's the broader definition of sexual assault.

Journalists, since their purpose is to serve the public with the truth, have to really carefully choose their words as using the wrong legal term can get them in hot water - libel lawsuits and such, not to mention accusations of trying to shape the public's opinion, and so on.

So yeah, you'll rarely find directly said out statements in the news as most journos will try to get to as close to the definition as possible without exposing themselves to legal action. That's why you'll often see e.g. statements like "the purported killer" even if there's clear evidence of the person being the murderer, simply because the case hasn't been judged yet therefore the legal term murderer - which requires a conviction - cannot be applied, and using it before the trial even happens is a big no-no.

Don't get me wrong, I fully agree with you that if it was a man with two young girls, the article would be going on the offensive much quicker, and even here they should've used the term "sexually assaulted" instead of "had sex with", but specifically the term rape cannot apply here.

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 38 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Thank you for the informative reply. As a layman in another country who isn't worried about specific local laws, I'd like to add that she raped at least two children.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 19 points 5 days ago

New York had (has?) a similar distinction. It came up in the E Jean Carrol saga; specifically Trump suing for defamation after her lawsuit, because it wasn’t- technically- rape.

IIRC it was dismissed with the judge saying that it fits the modern lay definition of rape and that’s not defamation.

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[–] PoastRotato@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago (7 children)

I agree, but there are libel laws to consider here. It serves no one to open yourself up to a lawsuit, especially one from which the rapist can only benefit.

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 127 points 5 days ago (2 children)

falling pregnant by a second while on police bail.

She really can't stop fucking kids, can she?

Maybe she has a future in US government

[–] Buelldozer@lemmy.today 47 points 5 days ago (4 children)

US Government? She's already in the UK, why would she leave a Pro League to go an Amatuer one?

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[–] gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 4 days ago

Bad wording that...Struck off is also slang for "masturbation"

[–] bunkyprewster@startrek.website 93 points 5 days ago (12 children)

She forgot to be a billionaire

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[–] SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Joynes was suspended pending a police investigation. But this did not stop her from inviting a second boy to her apartment for a “date night” that involved an Ann Summers scratchcard of sexual activities.

She became pregnant with the boy and gave birth last year, but the child was taken away from her.

This is sickening! The fact that she only got six years is a severe injustice to those two boys and the unfortunate child that was conceived in such a manner. Let's not "both sides" this: sex abuse is sex abuse. As @MrSulu@lemmy.ml pointed out, this will probably get some attention among far-right chuds for about week and get forgotten. It won't solve any issues and one more kid will fall into that hateful ideology. I hope the two boys get the help they need and that baby gets a good family that will look after it.

(Also, I had to look up what "Ann Summers" was in the context of this story and now I feel like shooting my laptop)

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I mean maths does have a tendency to be a bit dry and it's hard to get kids to engage with but I feel like this is going to be too far.

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[–] WanderWisley@lemmy.world 31 points 5 days ago

I would like to welcome Rebecca Joyner to her future career in the Trump administration.

[–] MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world 46 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Paedophile teacher who raped two boys is struck off

Edit: at least six rape apologists didn't appreciate my headline correction.

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[–] 1uddy@lemmings.world 12 points 4 days ago

Dang.

They're all going to learn that society doesn't give a damn about them.

[–] BaroqueInMind@piefed.social 24 points 5 days ago (28 children)

Why do this? There's millions of legal age men who would love to start a family with this crazy woman. Why did she rape kids?

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/former-maths-teacher-rebecca-joynes-banned-from-teaching-after-grooming-two-school-boys/news-story/0fe2070f15e4694d585491d7ea183cdb

One kid was 15, the other 16.

She was 30 or 31.

... the answer is because she's a groomer, a pedophile, by how those terms are generally used.

She gets off on the power imbalance, she gets off on manipulating and exploiting those who don't and can't reasonably be expected to know better.

She either wouldn't prefer to be or just couldn't be in a relationship with someone on an equal playing field.

She's a sexual predator, the kind you'd stereotypically call Chris Hansen to investigate.

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[–] tym@lemmy.world 20 points 5 days ago (1 children)

are we still doing phrasing?

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