UK Trans Woman Found Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting Man After Failing To Disclose Gender Identity
The prosecution argued that the man would not have consented to sexual activity had he known Ciara Watkin was transgender.
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Last week, the UK’s Teesside Crown Court heard that Ciara Watkin had lied to her partner about being on her period: she had wanted to stop him from discovering that she is transgender. Watkin, 21, had not undergone gender-affirming care or surgical procedures. She told the court that the man would have eventually realized she was “biologically male.” The man, also 21, argued that he would not have pursued a sexual encounter if he had known she was a transgender woman.
Ciara Watkin, from the market town of Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty of sexual assault for failing to disclose her “gender” to him so that he could give consent.
The two had met on Snapchat in June 2022. Watkin had used a female cartoon character as a profile pic. They shared messages for several weeks before meeting in a house where things got physical, the court heard. She performed sex acts on him, but when he tried to touch her breast and thigh, she moved his hand away and told him she was on her period to discourage him from feeling below her waist.
Days later, they met at the man’s house, where things continued to get physical. In court, it was revealed that the man’s mother and friends had met Watkin and suspected she was trans.
Watkin soon blocked contact with him, eventually circling back to text him to disclose that she was trans and had male genitalia. He subsequently filed a complaint with the police. He said he would not have pursued the encounter if he had known, and that he did “not swing that way.”
In court, Watkin’s lawyers claimed the man should have known. They argued that the defendant had presented herself as female but was “visibly and audibly” male — that it would have been “blindingly obvious” that Watkin was not biologically female.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Sarah Nelson told the Court, “It is clear from the evidence in this case that, prior to engaging in sexual activity with the victim, Watkin had made no attempt to inform him of her transgender status.” Nelson argued that the man “would not have engaged in sexual activity had he known that Watkin was transgender and, consequently, these events have had a significant impact on his mental wellbeing.”
Judge Peter Makepeace KC, in summing things up, said the case “could not be more straight forward.” He said that the accused person had fooled herself into believing she had successfully deceived the man. He said the defense’s position was, “She so wants to be female, she has actually fooled herself”—and said that Watkin contended that the victim realized she was trans “from the outset” but he had lied “to avoid the ridicule of his friends.”
Watkin was convicted of two charges of sexual assault and one charge of assault by penetration. She was given three days to sign the sex offender register, and is expected to be sentenced on October 10th. Though given bail, the judge said “jail was the overwhelming likelihood.”
