Teaching assistant took pupil, 15, home to show him sex toy collectionTelegraph reportersFri, October 9, 2026 at 6:05 PM UTC
Melanie Rock begged the boy to lie for her after they were seen by a teacher
A school assistant has been found guilty of grooming a 15-year-old pupil before taking him to her house and showing him her collection of sex toys and handcuffs.
Melanie Rock, 34, met the boy several times over the course of a week, taking him to her home and giving him a “koala hug”, pressing her body against his and stretching her legs around him as they lay on her bed.
But she was found out when a teacher saw them having lunch together at a Pizza Hut and reported it, despite Rock lying that the boy, whom she met at the school where she worked, was her godson.
A jury at Isle of Wight Crown Court took just under two hours to find her guilty of meeting a child following sexual grooming and sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.
Melanie Rock had denied having any sexual interest in the boy - Solent News & Photo Agency/Island Echo
Rock, from Cowes, was 31 and working at Medina College on the island as a communications support assistant, when she met her victim, who had been excluded from class for his behaviour.
They exchanged Instagram accounts before messaging and then meeting several times.
The court heard that Rock took the boy to KFC, a cashpoint and an amusement arcade, and gave him £45 before they went to her home.
In a police interview played to the jury, the boy described lying on Rock’s bed after she told him he could vape in her bedroom. He said she hugged him from behind in what he described as a “koala hug”.
He also said she invited him to “enjoy her room” and directed him towards a drawer containing a blue bag, handcuffs, black see-through lingerie and sex toys.
She also held up the items to him, he said, and while he initially laughed, he felt uncomfortable.
On another occasion, the court was told, Rock met the teenager in a shop car park and bought him four disposable vapes. She also allegedly bought him black Trapstar clothing worth £385, and gave him money.
The former school assistant, pictured outside court, is to be sentenced on Dec 4 - Solent News & Photo Agency/Isle of Wight County Press
The final meeting took place when Rock took the boy to Pizza Hut.
While there, they encountered a teacher from Medina College. The boy said Rock told him: “We need to make something up, because if he sees us I’m going to lose my job.”
Rock claimed the teenager was her godson and encouraged him to speak to the teacher so the situation did not “look weird”.
However, the teacher told Medina College about the meeting and the teenager was questioned by a senior teacher.
He texted Rock about the school asking him questions and she told him: “F---, I’m f---ed, I’m going to be sacked now they found out,” before begging him not to mention her name.
Two days later, Rock was arrested at school. She told police they had met by chance, she bought the boy pizza because he was hungry, and they had no further contact outside school.
Asked why she had met him outside school, Rock told the court: “I’m a mum, I care, I care too much, I was trying to keep an eye on him.”
She maintained she had not behaved sexually towards the boy and denied the allegations concerning physical contact in her bedroom. She denied having a sexual interest in him.
Judge James Newton-Price ordered a pre-sentence report and granted Rock bail pending her sentencing on Dec 4.
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Source: Crime
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