A teaching assistant who had sex with a 15-year-old schoolboy, claims she “bitterly regrets” seducing the teen after telling him “age is just a number”.
Rebecca Williams, 21, sent the boy flirty text messages before she took him back to her home and had sex with him.
However, this week a judge spared Williams a stint in prison after she confessed to two offences alongside abusing her position of trust within education.
A friend of Williams has revealed the convicted sex offender has been telling pals that she “regrets” her actions, report Mirror Online.
They have claimed she has already paid a “high price” for what she told them was a “mistake”.
The Sun reported that one close friend, who asked not to be identified, said: “Becky knows what she did was wrong and she bitterly regrets what happened now.
“She wishes she could turn the clock back but she knows she can’t. She is truly sorry for what she did.
“She has suffered very badly with depression as a result of losing her career and the court case. She has paid a high price for her mistake.
“She feels she has let herself and her community down.”
Williams, from Criccieth, North Wales, is now working in construction in an attempt to keep her head down and get on with her life, a friend claimed.
They added she was trying her best to rebuild her life after her career change.
She was slapped with a 12 month suspended sentence at Mold Crown Court, was fined £576 and has been a registered sex offender for 10 years.
Williams had sex with the boy on two separate occasions.
The court heard how she picked the teen up in her car one weekend before taking him to her home.
He said they watched TV before they had sex and the teen stayed overnight.
Later on, she messaged him again, and they would meet up and have sex once more.
Prosecution Mr Richard Edwards said: “Rumours started circulating that the defendant had slept with a school boy.
“The head of the school questioned the defendant directly about the information. The defendant denied anything untoward had gone on.”
Social services and police were alerted and the boy later confirmed they had had sex.
Jemma Gordon, defending said that Williams was now in a relationship which was helping her.
Judge Saffman said there had been “grooming.” She told Williams: “You knew what you were doing. You were working up to engage in a sexual relationship with him.”
The boy broke off the relationship with her but the defendant was keen to carry on.
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