Gayle Newland
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Gayle Newland is a British woman convicted of tricking another woman into sex by pretending to be a man. She was given a second trial in 2016, but was convicted.
Biography edit
Newland first contacted the victim, known as "Chloe", on Facebook in 2011, pretending to be a half-Filipino man named "Kye Fortune". They began an online relationship, but "Kye" refused to meet up for over a year, claiming that he had been in a disfiguring car accident, had a heart condition and was ill with cancer. However, he did introduce her to his "friend" Gayle Newland, and the two became friends.
After a year, "Kye" finally agreed to meet Chloe for sex at a hotel in Chester. "Kye" insisted that Chloe wear a blindfold the whole time because he was insecure about his appearance, and told her she could not touch him because his chest was bandaged due to a nozzle regulating his heartbeat. They had sex at least nine other times over the next three months, first at the hotel and then at Chloe's flat. At one of these, Chloe looked out the window after "Kye" left and saw Newland driving away but assumed that she was just picking up Kye.
Eventually Chloe started to become suspicious about Kye and on 30 June 2013 grabbed for the back of his head during sex, catching hold of long hair. Ripping off her blindfold, she saw that "Kye" was really Gayle Newland wearing a prosthetic strap-on penis. She quickly got dressed and ran out into the street, pursued by Newland. CCTV footage showed the two of them having a heated argument before Newland ran away. Later that day Newland attempted suicide by jumping in a canal, breaking her leg. When asked, she told police that she jumped because "I did something I shouldn't have".
Chloe, who was traumatized by her experience and had begun self-harming, reported Newland to the police on 3 July and Newland was arrested for sexual assault. She maintained that Chloe had known who she was and that Kye Fortune was an alias, claiming that she had used it to meet other women and Chloe had been aware of this. She also claimed Chloe had bought the prosthetic penis with her. However, police uncovered texts between Newland and Chloe from the night of the confrontation in which Chloe accused Newland of raping her and Newland replied that she felt guilty about the constant lies but knew Chloe "needed her". Newland contradicted herself, making reference to Chloe being blindfolded in her statement but later maintained at trial that she was never blindfolded. The Kye Fortune account was investigated and linked to three other women who had also had a relationship with Kye but had never been allowed to meet him. All of them had believed he was a man.
Newland was charged with three counts of sexual assault in 2015. She was found guilty and her attempts to mitigate based on her numerous psychiatric disorders failed, with Justice Roger Dutton sentencing her to eight years in prison. Newland appealed her conviction arguing that Justice Dutton's summation had been biased against her. This appeal succeeded and she was granted a second trial in 2016. This trial also convicted her by a majority verdict of 11-1, with Newland breaking down in tears as the verdict was read out. She was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.
See also edit
- Chantelle Johnson
- Gemma Barker
- Gemma Watts
- Jennifer Staines
- Justine McNally
- Sebastian Pritchard-Jones
References edit
- 'I was pretending to be a boy for a variety of reasons': the strange case of Gayle Newland, The Guardian
- Woman who posed as man jailed for sex assaults, BBC News
- Gayle Newland found guilty at retrial of tricking female friend into sex, The Guardian
- Prosthetic penis sex attacker Gayle Newland jailed, BBC News