Teaching assistant guilty of grooming and sexual activity with schoolboy

Teaching assistant guilty of grooming and sexual activity with schoolboy Rock was found guilty at Isle of Wight Crown Court on Friday - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in A teaching assistant has been found guilty of grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old pupil after giving him a “koala hug” in her bedroom while showing him her collection of sex toys. Melanie Rock, 34, of Arctic Road, Cowes, was convicted on Friday by a jury at Isle of Wight Crown Court of meeting a child following sexual grooming and sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust. Judge Newton-Price KC adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on the defendant and granted her bail until the sentencing hearing on 4 December. Speaking to Rock following the jury’s verdict, Newton-Price said: “Melanie Rock, you have been convicted by the jury on compelling evidence. “I want to know more about you before I proceed to sentence you on this matter. “It’s obviously a serious matter. I am therefore going to ask a probation officer to interview you so I know more about you. “I am going to give you bail pending your sentencing but that is no indication one way or another on the eventual outcome. This is serious, so the sentencing options must be open to me.” The court heard that Rock had asked the boy for his social media contact details before sending him messages to meet up. They went to an arcade where she gave him £25 to spend as well as buying him a tracksuit and vapes and taking him to a KFC restaurant, the court was told. The boy also went to the defendant’s house where she told him he could phone his mother from her bedroom where she went on to show him a bag containing sex toys, see-through lingerie and bondage gear, the jury was told. She then gave him a “koala hug”, which involved her putting her arms and legs around him on her bed as well as laid down between his legs, the court heard. Rock went on to try on a Harley Quinn costume which included a pair of “tight shorts”, the court was told. The jury also heard that a few days later the defendant took the boy to a Pizza Hut restaurant where a teacher from Medina College where she worked recognised her and she lied to him that the boy was her godson. Rock had denied any sexual behaviour towards the boy, denied that she was sexually attracted to him and said she had only taken him to the Pizza Hut restaurant after bumping into him in the street.