Transgender woman, 24, who raped friend weeks after being released from prison for having sex with 15-year-old girl when she was a man is jailed for nine years
- Lexi-Rose Crawford is expected to serve sentence for the attack in a male prison
- Her victim told court she was suffering from PTSD and had attempted suicide
A trans predator was jailed for nine years today for raping a ‘vulnerable’ friend with ‘her penis’ – just weeks after being released from prison for child sex offences.
Lexi-Rose Crawford, 24, began identifying as a woman after being released on licence from a four-year jail term imposed for having sex with an underage girl she met online.
A jury heard how she went on to attack the latest victim in her own home, after taking a PlayStation to the address so they could play computer games.
The defendant, who was referred to as ‘Miss’ throughout her March trial, was found guilty of rape and sexual assault and returned to Bristol Crown Court for sentencing today.
Judge Michael Longman described her offences as ‘especially shocking’.
Pervert Lexi-Rose Crawford, 24, has been locked up for nine years after carrying out her latest attack on her ‘extremely vulnerable’ victim
It is expected that under new government guidelines she will serve her term in a male prison
During today’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors outlined the attack and repeatedly referred to ‘her penis’ being used to carry out the rape in the victim’s own home in April 2019
The judge told Crawford: ‘Given your previous record of offending, these convictions are particularly serious, given that the victim was your friend and a friend you knew to be vulnerable herself.
‘You were a guest in her home at the time. That is also especially shocking and the sense of betrayal is perfectly understandable.’
In a personal impact statement read to the court, the victim said the attack had left her so traumatised she had to move out of her home, and had repeatedly attempted suicide.
She added: ‘Before that day I did have some mental health issues such as PTSD but I believe I was making progress. What Lexi did that day sent me back to square one.
‘I was having flashbacks and night terrors about what happened. I could not live there anymore and became homeless.’
She added: ‘Lexi was supposed to be my friend and I feel betrayed by her.’
Prosecutor Gregory Gordon told the court Crawford, a former volunteer guitar technician, ‘now identifies as female’ and was ‘good friends’ with the victim. He said she had contacted the woman via Facebook, arranging to go to her address.
He added: ‘She sat on the sofa and went to kiss the victim who said ‘no, stop’ because she wasn’t her girlfriend.’
The prosecutor said the defendant then pulled the victim down to the floor and was ‘not listening to the victim’s protests to stop.’
He added: ‘She began to touch the victim sexually – (the victim) pulled the defendant’s hands away. She said ‘stop, I don’t want this’ making it abundantly clear.
‘She was told repeatedly to stop but wouldn’t listen.’
The rape indictment specified that ‘her penis’ was used during the rape on the formal indictment used in court, and Mr Gordon repeatedly referred to ‘her penis’ being used to carry out the rape during this morning’s hearing.
During her trial, Crawford had claimed to suffer blackouts and couldn’t remember the attack but this was dismissed as a ‘convenient excuse’ by prosecutors.
The defendant was convicted by a jury after just two hours of deliberations.
Judge Longman told her that whether she remembered the attack or not, it was ‘clear’ she had ignored the victim’s wishes and ‘carried on regardless’.
Crawford, a biological male formerly known as Dominic Risden, began to identify as a female and changed her name after being released from a four-year jail term for child sex offences
Then 18, the defendant admitted to arranging to meet a 15-year-old in 2017, taking her to a secluded woodland spot and forcing her into oral sex and intercourse
But within weeks of being freed on licence in January 2019 and the start of her using feminine pronouns, Bristol Crown Court heard she raped a vulnerable friend after going to her flat to play computer games
Judge Longman said he balanced aggravating and mitigating factors including Crawford still being on licence and said the sentence of the earlier offences were ‘powerful and serious’ aggravating factors.
He sentenced Crawford, from Bristol, to nine years for the rape charge and six and half years for the sexual assault that would run concurrently.
Charley Pattison, defending, said mitigating factors included Crawford being only 20 at the time of the attack.
She said: ‘It is difficult for her to express remorse. There has been some element of blocking things out and not wanting to think about what happened – but there is an element of remorse for what happened.
‘She accepts the verdict of the jury but wants the jury to take into account her age, and what she’s been through.’
Crawford will remain on licence once she is released after no later than two thirds of her sentence and will be on sex offender’s register ‘indefinitely.’ A restraining order was also made.
Under new guidance issued by the Ministry of Justice earlier this year, transgender women who have male genitalia or who are convicted of sexual offences will automatically be sent to a male prison unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Crawford’s conviction came in the wake of the sentencing of Scottish trans rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed for eight years in February for attacking two vulnerable female victims in their own homes while living as a man.
Bryson, 31, began transitioning from male to female after being charged with the rapes, and was initially held in an all-women’s prison after being found guilty. She is now serving her sentence at HMP Edinburgh, a men’s jail.
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