Gemma Watts
Gemma Watts is a British woman convicted of impersonating a teenage boy in order to sexually assault young girls. She may have had up to 50 victims, but only seven were ever confirmed.
Biography edit
Watts created a false online persona as a teenage boy named "Jake Waton". She would use this persona to approach teenage girls on Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp, sharing skateboarding videos and using teenage slang when communicating with her victims. On some occasions Watts was able to convince the victims to send her intimate photographs of themselves. Eventually she would arrange to meet up with the victims, disguising herself as a boy by tying her hair into a bun and wearing boy's clothing, and shoving rolled-up socks down her pants to give the appearance of male genitalia. There would be kissing and sexual touching, and at least one victim was digitally penetrated by Watts. Watts' victims ranged from 16 years old, the age of consent in the UK, to as young as 13.
One of Watts' victims, a 14-year-old from Hampshire, became suspicious of Watts on two occasions. On the first occasion, the victim noticed "Jake" had breasts during an encounter and questioned Watts about them. Watts replied that they were "man boobs" that "he" had developed while overweight, which the victim believed. On another occasion the girl came across online images of Watts presenting as female and wearing girls' clothing. Watts claimed that she had been experimenting with female clothing and once again the victim believed her. Watts was reportedly controlling and abusive towards this victim, once threatening her with a knife and on another occasion allegedly trying to shove her in front of a car. Despite this the victim continued to believe that she and "Jake" were in love and later began self-harming after Watts' true identity was revealed.
Watts first came to the attention of police in March 2018 when a doctor raised concerns that one of her victims was in a relationship with an older boy. Hampshire police investigated potential safeguarding concerns and uncovered that the boy in question, Jake Waton, was really Gemma Watts and had been in a relationship with at least two other girls. She was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and admitted that she had impersonated a boy, but was released awaiting further investigation. She was arrested again in October after being caught on a date with another girl under her male persona. A Sexual Risk Order was made against Watts banning her from contacting anybody under the age of 16, with Watts being arrested yet again after breaching it just two weeks later. She was remanded in custody in March 2019 on a single count of sexual assault but was found not guilty, although the investigation continued. By the end of the investigation at least seven victims of Watts had been identified, although only the first four were willing to make a statement.
Watts was eventually charged in September 2019 with one count of assault by penetration, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of meeting a child through sexual grooming. She pleaded guilty to all charges and was jailed for eight years in January 2020. Police stated after the sentencing that there were likely more victims who had not come forward.
References edit
- Woman who posed as boy to sexually assault up to 50 girls is jailed, The Guardian
- Gemma Watts: Sex attacks woman posed as teenage boy, BBC News
- Gemma Watts, UK Sex Offenders Database