A 34-year-old teaching assistant has been convicted by a jury at Isle of Wight Crown Court after grooming a 15-year-old pupil with gifts and engaging in sexual conduct in her bedroom.
Melanie Rock, of Cowes, Isle of Wight, appeared for trial facing charges arising from an inquiry conducted by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary into misconduct while employed at Medina College.
The court was told that Rock obtained the teenage victim’s personal social media details and initiated contact to set up meetings outside of school grounds. During this period, Rock provided the boy with £25 in cash for an arcade, bought him vapes, purchased a tracksuit for him, and took him out for meals.
Jurors heard that the boy attended Rock’s home in Cowes, Isle of Wight, where she directed him into her bedroom. While inside, Rock displayed sex toys, bondage equipment, and transparent lingerie, tried on a costume in front of him, and wrapped her limbs around the child on the bed.
A few days later, a fellow teacher from Medina College observed Rock dining with the teenager at a Pizza Hut restaurant. When questioned, Rock claimed the victim was her godson. During police interviews and at trial, Rock denied having any sexual attraction toward the boy, denied engaging in sexual acts, and claimed the restaurant encounter happened by coincidence on the street.
Under the provisions of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 and Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, all victims of sexual offences and child complainants are protected by automatic, lifelong statutory anonymity. Publishing, broadcasting, or disseminating any details, names, addresses, educational facilities, or photographs capable of leading to the public identification of the child victim is strictly prohibited under UK law.
A jury found Rock guilty of:
Meeting a child following sexual grooming
Sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust
Following the verdicts, Judge Newton-Price KC remarked that the conviction was founded on compelling evidence and commissioned a pre-sentence report.
Rock was granted bail until her sentencing hearing on 4 December 2026, with the judge explicitly warning her that bail provides no indication of sentence and that all judicial disposals remain open to the court.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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