Former physical education teacher charged with multiple sexual offenses against 3 children

Fox News

2 days ago

A former physical education teacher in the United Kingdom appeared in court this week as she faces 13 charges for allegedly committing sexual offenses against three children over a three-year period, according to reports.
The BBC reported that 29-year-old Bonwen James, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, appeared in the Salisbury Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, after being accused of having sexual activity with a boy and two girls.
James is charged with four counts of sexual activity with a boy and six counts of sexual activity with girls under the age of 16.
She also faces two counts of sexual communication with a child and a single count of producing an indecent photograph of a minor.
Chippenham Police said in a Facebook post Monday that James taught PE at Hardenhuish School in Shippenham, and Bitterne Park School in Southampton.
The Independent reported that during the court hearing on Wednesday, the chairman of the bench, Stephen Harrison, told James her case would be heard before the Salisbury Crown Court on Aug. 7.
"By virtue of three of these offenses being indictable only, which means they can only be heard in the crown court, we will be sending them to the crown court," Harrison reportedly said. "The other 10 offenses are associated offenses and therefore will be included in the hearing to be heard in front of the crown court."
James was granted bail on the condition that she does not have contact with any of the children in the complaint. She is also prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16.
When asked if she understood the bail conditions, James reportedly confirmed that she did.
The publication reported that the hearing was short, and the only time James spoke was to confirm things like her name, date of birth, address, and her confirmation that she understood the proceedings.
James is just one of a growing list of young female teachers accused of having sexual activity with children.
Last month, a U.S. high school teacher, 35-year-old Alyssa Perry, was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old former student of hers at her residence in Rockaway Township, New Jersey.
Also, last month, an Illinois grand jury indicted high school teacher Christina Formella, 30, on 20 counts of sexual assault, 20 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, six counts of indecent solicitation of a child and six counts of grooming.
Formella had been accused of sexually assaulting the boy in a classroom during a tutoring session before class began at Downers Grove South High School in December 2023.
The victim's mother discovered the alleged assault when looking through her son's text message thread on his cellphone and then contacted police, prosecutors said.