A transgender woman serving time at an all-female UK prison sexually assaulted four inmates at the facility, according to new reports.
Convicted sex offender Karen White, 52, who was born a man and identifies as a woman, confessed this week to two counts of sexual touching at New Hall Prison, in Wakefield, The Sun reported. She denied the two other counts, according to the report.
All of the assaults happened last year, between September and November, prosecutors said.
During her hearing a Leeds Crown Court, she also pleaded guilty to the rape of a woman back in August 2003, when she went by her male name, Stephen Wood, according to the Telegraph.
She was also jailed back in 2001 for assault and gross indecency with a child, according to the Sun.
And just last month, she pleaded guilty to two counts of raping another woman between February and December of 2016, The Telegraph reported.
The two rapes landed her in the slammer, where she allegedly took advantage of more women.
In one of the assaults, White stood close to another inmate, touched her arm and exposed herself, prosecutor Charlotte Dangerfield told the court.
Her relationship with that inmate became inappropriate soon after she arrived at the jail, Dangerfield alleged, according to the report.
“The defendant would stand very close to her, touch her arm and wink at her,” the prosecutor said. “Her penis was erect and sticking out of the top of her trousers.”
In the second assault, she reportedly made comments about oral sex before placing a female inmate’s hand on her left breast, over her padded bra, the outlet reported.
Just days later, White allegedly pushed her hips and penis against another prisoner — and in the most recent incident, she reportedly kissed an inmate on the neck, Dangerfield said.
White had initially told the court that she could not be guilty because she was not attracted to women and had been suffering from erectile dysfunction.
She was transferred to HM Prison Leeds, a men’s jail, after the alleged assaults.
Judge Christopher Batty adjourned her sentencing until Oct. 11 to gather victim statements and determine whether she posed any danger, according to the report.
White had not yet had gender reassignment surgery when she went to the women-only prison.
Though she started identifying as a woman in 2014, friends told The Sun she was never diagnosed with gender dysphoria and was a drag artist, not transgender.
She has an ex-wife and son, according to the report.
White’s case could spark an overview of the rules for dealing with transgender inmates in UK prisons.
Dr. Nicola Williams, spokeswoman for the organization Fair Play for Women, which campaigns to preserve women’s spaces, was frustrated that White was booked at the jail in the first place.
“This just shows that the risk assessments that prisons do are not good enough, because it’s allowed a rapist, with a penis, into a women’s prison,” Williams told the Sun. “And women have been sexually assaulted. It is absolutely outrageous. We have to change the prison guidance now. There should be no fully intact male-bodied prisoners, ever, in women’s prisons.”
A Prison Service spokeswoman apologized and admitted that mistakes were made, the Daily Mail reported.
“While we work to manage all prisoners, including those who are transgender, sensitively and in line with the law, we are clear that the safety of all prisoners must be our absolute priority,” she told the outlet.
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