A transgender woman has been jailed for nine years for r*p**g a ‘vulnerable’ friend with ‘her pen*s’ 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 s** 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 r*p* and se*ual assault and returned to Bristol Crown Court for sentencing.
Judge Michael Longman described her offences as ‘especially shocking’.
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 se*ually – (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 p*n*s’ was used during the r*p* 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’.
