Teacher who sexually abused teenage pupil due to be sentenced

A disgraced teacher who sexually abused a teenage pupil is due to be sentenced for a string of offences in March.

Judith Evans - who admitted grooming and having sex with the schoolboy - was due to be sentenced for eight offences at Belfast Crown Court today (Wednesday).

Due to the ongoing withdrawal of services by criminal barristers in a dispute of Legal Aid cases, sentencing did not proceed. Instead, Judge Patricia Smyth set a new date for sentencing as March 7.

Evans, 33, from Elmwood Grove in Newtownabbey, was a teacher at the Belfast Boys Model School when the offences occurred. Despite her initial denials, the mother-of-two pleaded guilty to a total of eight sexual offences committed against the teenage boy.

The charges she admitted include sexual communication with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming, sexual activity with a child involving penetration and possessing indecent images of the schoolboy. These offences were committed between March 1 and May 17, 2024.

Evans also admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice between June 13 and 27, 2024 by making a false allegation that she was sexually assaulted by the teenager. At a prior hearing, it emerged that just under 10,000 text messages were exchanged between Evans and the teenager.

Currently on bail and no longer teaching, Evans faces a jail term and being placed on the Sex Offenders Register for the offences she committed.

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