A former PE teacher who groomed and sexually abused three pupils is facing a lengthy prison sentence. Bronwen James, 30, was convicted by a jury and had previously admitted offences involving two schoolgirls.
James was found guilty on Thursday at Winchester Crown Court of three counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust. The charges related to a boy who was 16 when the offences began, and she was acquitted of one further count involving the same boy.
James, from Chippenham in Wiltshire, had already pleaded guilty to separate offences against two girls, aged 13 and 14. The offences involved pupils at schools in Southampton and Wiltshire and included sexual activity with a child, sexual communication with a child and making an indecent photograph of a child.
The Crown Prosecution Service described James's crimes as a 'sustained pattern of predatory behaviour against children in her care'. Judge James Bromige has ordered pre-sentence reports and will pass sentence at a later date, with James due back before the court on Monday ahead of sentencing.
Classroom Messages That Turned Into Abuse
The trial heard that James began exchanging flirtatious messages with the boy while teaching him at Bitterne Park School in Southampton, with contact quickly moving onto Snapchat. Prosecutors told jurors the messages showed what they called a 'sexually charged relationship' between teacher and pupil.
Jurors were told James later collected the boy in her car and drove him to Weston Shore, where the pair kissed. On a subsequent occasion, she took him to her home, where they watched television coverage of Wimbledon before going to her bedroom, where they had sex.
In a police interview read to the court, the boy said he had been 'groomed' by James.
He also alleged she supplied him with vapes hidden in his coursework and asked him to call her 'miss' when the two were alone.
The court heard the relationship came to light after another pupil showed a teacher sexually explicit messages between James and the boy.
Prosecutor Edward Culver told jurors the boy had been saved in James's phone as 'number 8'.
'She acted not only in an unprofessional and overfamiliar way, but failed to recognise any boundaries, exploiting her position to engage in sexual activity with one of her young students,' Culver said.
Earlier Warning Over Contact With Pupil
The court also heard that concerns about James's conduct had surfaced years earlier. While teaching at the private Seaford College in West Sussex, she received a formal warning after giving a pupil her personal mobile number, a warning that did not halt her subsequent teaching career.
Bethany Adams, a CPS prosecutor, said James had been 'trusted to educate and protect children' but had instead used that position 'to groom and sexually abuse three students'.
She said James had 'manipulated her victims with calculated precision, exploiting her position of authority to isolate them and normalise the abuse', adding that this was 'not a lapse in judgment' but a deliberate pattern of offending.
Adams praised the 'courage' of the three teenagers who came forward, saying their evidence had been 'instrumental in securing this conviction'. She expressed hope the verdicts would offer them and their families 'some measure of justice'.
James's defence team acknowledged in court that she is likely to face a substantial custodial sentence when she is sentenced later this year.
