Pictured: Female teacher, 33, charged with sexually abusing a schoolboy in Northern Ireland
- Judith Evans has pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court to 11 charges against her
A female teacher has been charged in Northern Ireland with sexually abusing a schoolboy.
Judith Evans, who has been suspended from her teaching position at Belfast Boys’ Model School, will stand trial for alleged sex offences she committed against a male pupil. The Belfast Telegraph reported.
Evans, 33, appeared in Belfast District Court on Wednesday to plead not guilty to 11 charges relating to a range of sex offences, including committing sexual acts with a minor, possessing an indecent photograph of a female student, sexual communication with a minor, perverting the course of justice and more.
She had tried to avoid being identified as a suspect in the case, her lawyers citing concerns about her mental health, the risk of the student being identified, the risk of prejudice to the administration of justice and the fact that Evans herself had filed a criminal complaint.
But the judge refused to issue an order to conceal her identity, the newspaper reported, citing the “interest of an open justice system.”
Judith Evans (pictured) will stand trial for sex crimes she allegedly committed against a male student
Evans was summoned to appear in court on Wednesday to face charges relating to the period from March 1 to May 17 this year, the court heard.
It is alleged that during this four-month period Evans had contact with a student ‘for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification’.
She was charged with two counts: meeting with a child after sexual harassment, two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of intentional sexual touching involving penetration of the child.
She was also charged with inciting a child to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual acts “for the purpose of sexual gratification” and two counts of possessing an indecent image of the pupil.
Evans was also charged with obstructing justice between June 13 and June 27, allegedly making a false accusation of sexual abuse against the boy.
She pleaded not guilty to all charges and Judge Patricia Smyth set her trial for November 4. Evans was also released on bail.
Evans, who has been suspended from teaching at Belfast Boys’ Model School (pictured), had sought to avoid being identified as a suspect in the case, with her lawyers citing concerns about her mental health, the risk of the pupil being identified, the risk of prejudice to the administration of justice and the fact that she had also filed a criminal complaint.
Evans’ lawyer Adrian Harvey, who accompanied her in the dock on Wednesday, previously told the court that his client claimed to have been a victim in the encounters with the student, the newspaper reported.
Mr Harvey argued that Evans ‘is also a complainant in connection with these proceedings’.
Her attorney Laura Ivers KC told the judge on Wednesday that the defense wants to see forensic and psychiatric reports before the trial.