A British court has sentenced a 21-year-old transgender woman, Ciara Watkin, to 21 months in prison for deceiving a young man into sexual activity by falsely claiming to be biologically female.
Watkin, who is biologically male and has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, spent the night with the man at a house in Thornaby, Teesside, after they met on the social media platform Snapchat.
According to court proceedings, during their date, Watkin concealed her male genitalia and told the man not to touch her below the waist, claiming she was menstruating.
The case came to light after Watkin later revealed her biological sex to the man, who subsequently reported the incident to police.
Watkin, from Thornaby in Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty of sexual assault after a jury rejected her claim that the man “would have realised” her gender identity.
The victim told Durham Crown Court that he would not have consented to sexual activity had he known Watkin was biologically male.
He said he felt “shocked and upset” at being “deceived,” adding that he was left “ashamed and embarrassed” and had been “ridiculed online” as a result of Watkin’s actions.
The victim said he was a “heterosexual male” who would never think about sexual activity with a man and felt he had part of his masculinity taken away.
Watkin, who was born male, had used the name Ciara since childhood but had not undergone any medical treatment or surgery, the earlier trial at Teesside Crown Court had heard.
Watkin and the victim were both 18 when they met on Snapchat, where the defendant used a female cartoon character as a profile picture, before meeting in person and going on to have sexual contact, prosecutor Paul Reid said.
During trial on Friday, Defence counsel Victoria Lamballe argued that Watkin’s actions were not “predatory or sadistic” but stemmed from “shame and a deep sense of discomfort” with her own body rather than a malicious intent to deceive”.
Lamballe said the 21-year-old trans, who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, had identified as female since primary school and been “bullied and ridiculed on a daily basis for her presentation”.
It was “hardly surprising” therefore that Watkin had “built up a facade” and presented “almost as a caricature of herself which serves to mask the inner turmoil she feels at having been born into the wrong body”, she added.
However, the recorder, Makepeace said the victim was “totally deceived”, adding: “I am certain he fully believed throughout, from start to finish, you were of female gender and a birth female.”
The judge said Watkin told lies to “get away” with her deception and knew the man would not have consented to sexual activity had he known she was a “birth male” with male genitalia.
“During the trial Watkin had appeared “flippant”, disinterested and bored and had shown “not a shred of remorse”, understanding or “common decency” towards the victim and had even sought to blame the man,” Makepeace said.
The judge told Watkin the victim would have been “fully aware” of how reporting the assaults to police could expose him to “ignorant and thoughtless attack” by other people, but he did so to “ensure you didn’t get away with what you had done and in the sincere hope he could prevent it from happening to anyone else in the future”.
The 21-year-old trans will serve her sentence in a male prison, where the court said protective measures would be taken to ensure her safety.
Watkin must also sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and a restraining order banning her from contacting the victim was made for life.
Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con Martin Scotson of Cleveland Police said Watkin “purposely concealed her sex in order for the sexual activity to take place”, adding: “Had the victim been aware that Ciara was biologically male, he would not have consented.
“I hope that now this case has been brought to a conclusion, the victim can now move forward with his life.
