A trans woman has been jailed for 21 months after deceiving a young man by concealing male genitalia during s£x acts carried out while they were on a date.

 

 

 

Ciara Watkin, 21, a biological male with gender dysphoria 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 s£x acts on the man after telling him not touch below the waist because of menstruation.

 

 

 

 

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 s£xual assault following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

 

Recorder Peter Makepeace, 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 that Watkin, from Stockton-on-Tees, 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 his victim, who cannot be identified by the media.

 

 

 

After the case, investigating officer Detective Constable Martin Scotson 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.’

 

 

 

 

In a victim impact statement, the complainant said what happened to him had taken away some of his masculinity.

 

 

 

He said: ‘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 using 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 her 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’.

 

 

 

Ms Lamballe said Watkin grew up in a deprived area and experienced bullying, so it was not surprising that she developed a facade.

 

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

 

 

 

Ms Lamballe said: ‘To walk down a a court landing with this defendant is to run a gauntlet of abuse.

 

 

 

‘If this is what she faces every single day every time she leaves the house, it is hardly surprising she has built up a facade, becoming almost a caricature of herself.’

 

 

 

Ms Lamaballe said Watrkin suffered gender dysphoria and suffers ‘turmoil at being born into the wrong body’.

 

 

 

She read out a message Watkin sent to the victim after her disclosure to him, which said: ‘I am trans, I am so sorry I didn’t tell you, I really wanted something real but it is hard for me.’

 

 

 

Sentencing, Recorder Makepeace told the defendant: ‘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.’

 

 

 

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.’

 

 

 

And regarding 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 s£x assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.’

 

 

 

He also said: ‘Having seen you give evidence and your conduct throughout the trail, I am satisfied at the heart of your offending was your frustration at wanting s£xual 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.’

 

 

 

The judge acknowledged prison would be ‘significantly more difficult’ for the defendant.