A 25-year-old woman reportedly posed as a man and used a prosthetic penis to have sex with a fellow female student at the University of Chester.
Gayle Dawn Newland from Hooton Road in Willaston allegedly lured her victim in a blindfold and subsequently had sex with her between February and June, 2013.
The victim claims she did not realise her “male” partner was in fact a female using a prosthesis penis.
However, the accused denied the five counts charges of sexual assault which are alleged to have occurred when they were both students.
The prosecuting barrister, Matthew Corbett-Jones, told the Chester Crown Court that the alleged assaults took place against “what on the face of it is a fairly extraordinary background”.
The prosecution contend that the alleged victim did not knowingly consent to the use of the prosthetic device and that she did not know Newland was a woman, reports The Chester Chronicle.
Mr Corbett-Jones, on Monday, September 7, 2015 which was the first day of the trial, explained how eight women and four men that Newland had set up a fake Facebook profile under the alias of “Kye Fortune” – a man – and sent the alleged victim a friend request in 2011, telling her that he knew of her through a mutual friend who was on the same university course as her.
They soon started a relationship which developed over time and the alleged victim made a number of requests to meet Fortune in person, which the accused dodged with ‘repeated excuses’ which ranged from being too ill after doctors had discovered a tumour following a road traffic accident he had been involved in and was undergoing intensive treatment, to all worth nots.
Fortune explained during their telephone conversations that his high-pitched voice was due to his half-Philippine and half-Asian heritage.
The pair became boyfriend and girlfriend but when they finally met in person at The Dene Hotel in Hoole on February 22, 2013, Newland – posing as Kye Fortune – is said to have insisted that the alleged victim wear a blindfold with a scarf over it, citing insecurities about his appearance following the accident.
The prosecution say that Newland wore a swimming costume with bandages binding her chest and a hat to conceal her hair, maintaining that the outfit was necessary because of the injuries, and that the two then had sex with Newland using a prosthetic without the alleged victim’s knowledge.
Mr Corbett-Jones said that “at no time” did she consent to sex with the use of a prosthetic and in so doing “the defendant sexually assaulted” her.
Thereafter they met and had sex at a Travelodge in Chester and at the alleged victim’s home in Chester.
When the alleged victim became unhappy in the relationship and tried to break up,Fortune messaged her saying he would kill himself.
He told her his foster mother had died and that he believed his foster father had played a role in her death, and that he needed to see her.
She agreed to meet him at her flat on June 30 and the couple had sex again but this time she became suspicious and removed her blindfold for the first time. She claims that to her horror she realised she was in bed with a woman.
She unsuccessfully tried to call the police and a struggle followed before she fled the property.
Later that day, police were called to a canal bridge in Mollington, from which Newland had apparently jumped.
Underneath her clothes, she was wearing what appeared to be a swimming costume and had a woolly hat with her.
The victim fled a report to the police on July 3, 2015 which led to the arrest of Newland the following day.
Speaking to the police, the alleged victim said: “I know it sounds pathetic, but I was just so happy at the time because I was in love with this person and we’d built this beautiful relationship.
“It was just based on, you know, our minds and all the other things that we had in common so I just felt grateful that I’d finally got a proper relationship.”
The accused reportedly proposed to the victim with a ring during their supposed beautiful relationship.
Newland, who appeared upset and tearful during the proceedings, claims that her alleged victim knew she was in fact a woman and that they were both “going along with some sort of fantasy” that she was Kye Fortune, explained Mr Corbett-Jones.
He invited the jury to consider how “gullible or naive” they consider the alleged victim is.
“It is unquestionably the case that if what she says is true, she is by her nature a very gullible, and I hope she will forgive me for saying so, naive person,” he added.
Newland’s trial continues.
