Ciara Watkin, aged 21, was convicted of sexual assault after failing to tell a man she was not assigned female at birth. She told the man she was on her period to conceal that she had not yet had gender confirmation surgery and had identified as female and used the name Ciara since age 13. Prosecutors said the man could not give informed consent because he stated he would not have had sexual contact if he had known she was trans. The jury convicted her after one hour; sentencing is set for 10 October and she must sign the sex offenders register within three days. The conviction follows updated Crown Prosecution Service guidance on deception as to sex, which traces to the McNally v R. (2013) decision that deception as to gender can vitiate consent.
The BBC reports that Ciara Watkin told the man she was on her period to stop him finding out she had not yet had gender confirmation surgery. The court heard that she had identified as female and used the name Ciara since the age of 13. Prosecutors argued that the man was unable to make "informed consent", after he claimed he wouldn't have had sexual contact with Watkin had he known she was trans.
The jury reached a guilty verdict after just one hour of deliberations following a two-day trial. She will be sentenced on 10 October and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register within three days. Ciara Watkin's conviction comes in the wake of a recent update to the Crown Prosecution Service's "deception as to sex", previously "deception as to gender", guidance.
In 2013, Justine McNally, 18, entered an online relationship with another young woman, using the name Scott McNally. When they met in person McNally continued to present as Scott and they engaged in sexual activity. She was convicted of six counts of assault by penetration. The revised CPS guidance was updated following a public consultation that ran for twelve weeks and ended on 8 December 2022.
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