A 65-year-old chemistry teacher is standing trial accused of having sex with a schoolboy up to 30 times after comparing herself to a porn model. Sally-Anne Bowen, of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, faces eight counts of indecent assault against two boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at Harrow Crown Court.
The alleged offences took place in the late 1980s, when Bowen was in her mid-twenties and the boys were around 14 to 15 years old. Prosecutor Madeleine Wolfe told the jury that Bowen kissed one boy on multiple occasions and had sex with the other approximately 20 or 30 times.
Prosecution details alleged exploitation
Ms Wolfe said: “The prosecution do not suggest that Sally-Anne Bowen forced herself on either boy, and accept that, viewed superficially, they may have appeared to have been willing to participate in the sexual acts with Ms Bowen. By flirting with them, by sexualising her relationships with them and by encouraging them to engage in sexual conduct with her, she exploited that position for her own sexual gratification.”
The court heard that Bowen joined the school in her first job as a chemistry teacher and spoke to the first boy even though he was not in her class. Ms Wolfe said: “He felt she picked him out of all the other pupils at that school. He said she made him feel special. As far as he was concerned, their relationship went to the point he thought she was his girlfriend – that he loved her and she loved him.”
Alleged porn magazine incident
Jurors were told that Bowen engaged in “a lot of banter” and rather than shutting down sexually provocative conversations, she encouraged the boys to speak and joke openly about sex. Recalling one lunch break, the first boy described flicking through a porn magazine with friends when Bowen took it from them. Instead of confiscating it, she allegedly opened it and pointed to a naked model, saying that the woman’s “p***y” was similar to her own.
This incident led to the boy taking the bus home with her to Golders Green, where they kissed in her flat. Ms Wolfe said: “For the summer holidays of 1988 he was a regular visitor to that bedroom. He thought they had sex in excess of 20 to 30 times. He told police he was never allowed to stay the night. He thought the latest he was allowed to stay was about one o’clock in the morning.”
Second complainant's account
The second complainant also recalls spending lunchtimes in the cafe with Bowen. He remembers being “goaded” into kissing her by other boys and touching her breasts while they sat in the cafe. On several occasions, the “besotted” boy walked the teacher home and the two kissed before parting ways.
Ms Wolfe said: “The prosecution suggests that this sexual behaviour towards a pupil was something that Sally-Anne Bowen should have put a stop to and it was an indecent assault on her behalf.” She told jurors: “Young as she was, she was not their peer, and she was not entitled to treat them as if they were adults capable of entering into sexual relationships with her. She was a teacher, entrusted with the care and welfare of pupils, and the prosecution say she abused that trust for her own sexual gratification.”
The prosecutor added: “The issue in this case is not whether these boys appeared flattered, willing or besotted, as she describes it at the time. It is whether Sally-Anne Bowen, knowing her position and their vulnerability, crossed the boundaries that existed to protect them at that school in the 1980s.” The trial continues.
