The Offender Database reported that Ciara Watkin, the transgender sex offender from Thornaby, who deceived a man regarding her biological sex while engaging in sexual actions, was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
The victim of Ciara Watkin stated that he would not have consented to sexual intercourse had he been aware that she was biologically male, as shown before Durham Crown Court.
Ciara Watkin, 21, from Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, asserted that the guy would have recognised her rank; yet, jurors convicted her of sexual assault.
Recorder Peter Makepeace KC asserted that he was “certain” the victim “fully believed from start to finish” that Ciara Watkin was female due to her “falsehoods and deceit.”
Ciara Watkin, assigned male at birth, had utilised the name Ciara from childhood but had not received any medical intervention or surgical procedures, as stated in the last trial at Teesside Crown Court.
Ciara Watkin and the victim were both 18 when they connected on Snapchat, where the defendant utilised a female cartoon character as her profile photo, before meeting in person and engaging in sexual intercourse, stated prosecutor Paul Reid.
Ciara Watkin, identified in court using female pronouns, informed the man that she was menstruating to prevent him from touching her below the waist, as said in court.
Upon Ciara Watkin’s subsequent disclosure of her biological male identity, the individual lodged a complaint with the police.
He informed the investigators that, had he been aware of Ciara Watkin’s background, he would not have engaged with her, as he “does not swing that way.”
Prosecutors stated that the case centred on the matter of informed consent.
In a statement read to the court, the man said he was “physically sick” when Ciara Watkin revealed what she called her “massive secret” to him.
He said he was “shocked and upset” about being “deceived”, adding he felt “ashamed and embarrassed” and had been “ridiculed online due to Ciara Watkins’ actions and deception”.
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.
In mitigation, Victoria Lamballe said Watkin’s offences were “not an act of predatory or sadistic behaviour” but were “driven by shame and a deep sense of discomfort within her own body rather than a malicious intent to deceive”.
Ms Lamballe said Ciara Watkin, 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 Ciara 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”, Ms Lamballe said.
She said Ciara Watkin, whose parents were drug addicts who neglected her, was a person who “simply wanted to be seen as others as she sees herself” and “wanted to be loved as the person she perceives herself to be”.
But 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, Ciara 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, Recorder 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”.
Recorder Makepeace said “certain newspapers” and people on social media had “gleefully poured scorn” on the man for being “fooled”.
But, the judge added, the photographs of Ciara Watkin that accompanied such posts had been “deliberately selected to ridicule the suggestion [the victim] had been fooled” and there were many other images which demonstrated how “convincing” Ciara Watkin’s female appearance could be.
The judge said Ciara Watkin posed a high risk of offending in the same way in the future and, while her gender dysphoria was a factor in her actions, at the “heart” of it was Watkin’s “frustration at wanting sexual experiences with heterosexual males” which “by definition” she needed to “deceive to achieve”.
The court heard Ciara Watkin would serve her sentence at a prison for men, but measures would be in place to “minimise the risk” to her and “maximise the support”.
Ciara 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.
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