Transgender Jailed for Lying About Gender to Sleep with Man

A transgender man has been jailed for 21 months after lying about his biological sex to sleep with a man.

Ciara Watkin, 21, who identifies as a woman, spent the night with the man at a house in Thornaby, Teesside, after they met on the social media platform Snapchat.

Watkin performed sex acts on the man after demanding not to be touched below the waist. Watkin claimed to be menstruating.

After the case, the police referred to Watkin by female pronouns – while describing the defendant as “biologically male”.

The defendant was previously convicted of three counts of sexual assault following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Recorder Peter Makepeace KC, sentencing at Durham Crown Court, said he was sure the victim, who was 18 at the time, was convinced Watkin was a woman.

When Watkin later messaged his phone with the “massive secret” about being born male, the teenager felt sick and began retching, the trial was told.

The court heard Watkin, from Stockton, has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and is attracted to heterosexual men.

The defendant must stay on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and is subject to a life-long restraining order not to approach the victim, who cannot be identified by the media.

After the case, Det Con Martin Scotson, the investigating officer, said: “This case is about true consent and the victim not being informed of exactly what he was consenting to.

“Ciara Watkin deceived the victim in this case, leading him to believe that throughout their sexual relationship she was a woman, when in fact she was biologically male.

“Ciara purposely concealed her sex in order for the sexual activity to take place, and had the victim been aware that Ciara was biologically male, he would not have consented.”

Deception left teenager feeling ashamed

In a victim impact statement, the complainant said what happened to him had taken away some of his masculinity. He added: “I am a heterosexual male and I wouldn’t even think of doing anything with a male.

“This has left me feeling ashamed and embarrassed. I have been ridiculed online due to Watkin’s deception. I have been so upset over this whole thing.”

Referring to the defendant with a male pronoun, the victim added: “I don’t want Watkin to get away with what he has done to me.”

Victoria Lamballe, defending, said Watkin had a “crass and licentious” side, but a psychiatric report had revealed vulnerability.

Watkin had identified as female since primary school, and this was not “a matter of preference or choice but a deeply ingrained aspect of her identity”.

The defendant wept as Ms Lamballe said Watkin “wants to be seen by others as she sees herself”.

Sentencing, recorder Makepeace said: “I simply do not know how you can be so unmoved by what you did given you have always accepted you deliberately deceived an 18-year-old lad, who had done nothing but show you kindness and decency and hospitality, into participating in sexual acts you know he would never have contemplated had he known the truth.”

Victim’s trust is ‘shattered’

The judge added about the victim: “In my judgment he presented as totally, guilelessly honest. He left the witness box as a very decent, intelligent, sensitive and caring individual.

“If there was a degree of naivety, so what, what 18-year-old does not have, and indeed should have, a degree of naivety; if there was misjudgment, it was founded on a genuine trusting nature which is a quality, not a failing – I am only sorry your offending against him is likely to have shattered that trust.”

Addressing Watkin, he said: “Let me say immediately being a trans female, as you identify to be, is not a mental disorder, illness or neurological impairment.

“But in your case, there is a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, that is a psychiatric diagnosis that refers to the psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.”

He also said: “Having seen you give evidence and your conduct throughout the trial, I am satisfied at the heart of your offending was your frustration at wanting sexual experiences with heterosexual males, and, by definition, your need to deceive to achieve that – that frustration at not having a healthy outlet for sexual urges is hardly an unusual feature in sexual assault cases.”