Former St. John's high school student says sex with teacher Krysta Grimes was planned on Snapchat
A student who says he had sexual contact with his high school teacher took the stand Friday, telling a St. John's courtroom that he and Krysta Grimes planned a meeting for sex over a popular messaging app.
Grimes, 34, is facing one count of sexual exploitation. The student was under 18 at the time and can't be identified due to a publication ban.
Despite having his application to testify by video denied, he remained calm and spoke evenly as he told Justice Vikas Khaladkar his account Friday morning.
He testified that in March 2018 he was sometimes given access to Grimes' cell phone while in class so he could play music through a speaker or take photos for school purposes.
As a joke one day, he testified that he added the substitute teacher on Snapchat — an app popular among teenagers that automatically deletes photos and texts.
He expected to get into trouble or have his Snapchat request deleted, he said. Instead, the two began texting back and forth — what he called "innocent" chat, at first.
That communication later led to Grimes sending him explicit photos through the app, he alleges.
The two also discussed meeting up privately outside of school. Between April and June 2018, he testified he picked her up in his car, driving to a quiet location just outside St. John's.
The two sat in his back seat before undressing, kissing and having sexual intercourse — something the man, the sole complainant in this case, said was mutually instigated.
The two continued chatting through Snapchat after the alleged meeting, but it wasn't until the next school year, according to the complainant, that he began to hear rumours about their alleged relationship from other students.
He said he then disclosed to several close friends his account of what had happened between them.
In December 2018, school officials received an anonymous email describing those rumours about Grimes having sexual contact with students.
The complainant testified Grimes texted him just before Christmas, asking if his parents had mentioned anything and if he "had her back." Both he and Grimes then deleted all messages between them, he said.
In a meeting with the principal the next day, he denied having sex with her, testifying he was scared of getting in trouble.
In later meetings with school board officials and police, however, the former student disclosed the alleged sexual encounter.
Grimes victim of rumour: Defence
Defence lawyer Rosellen Sullivan pushed back on the complainant, pointing out several inconsistencies between his police statements, made in 2019, and his testimony on Friday.
She stressed the fact the former student couldn't remember exactly where or when the alleged meetup happened, and a discrepancy in his statements about the sexual position the two used.
Sullivan also suggested he had taken pictures of Grimes from her cell phone without her knowledge, but told his friends — and police — she'd sent them willingly on Snapchat, and bragged to them about adding her on the app, which he characterized as a goal that other students at the school would discuss.
You wanted everyone in the school, Sullivan asked, to know you added Ms. Grimes?
Yes, the complainant answered.
It was the topic of conversation if you got added or removed, Sullivan continued. When people said inappropriate things to her, it was talked about as an accomplishment?
Correct, he replied.
I'm going to suggest you started this rumour, she said — you wanted to be one of the guys.
The complainant replied several times that he may have misremembered some details due to the length of time between the alleged incident and the trial.
Court resumes Monday.
