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Gayle Newland: Sex attacker who posed as man found guilty Gayle Newland: Sex attacker who posed as man found guilty
(about 3 hours later)
A woman has been convicted of impersonating a man for more than two years in an "astonishing deception" to trick her female friend into sex.A woman has been convicted of impersonating a man for more than two years in an "astonishing deception" to trick her female friend into sex.
Gayle Newland, 27, of Willaston, Cheshire, created a "disturbingly complex" online persona to achieve her own "bizarre sexual satisfaction".Gayle Newland, 27, of Willaston, Cheshire, created a "disturbingly complex" online persona to achieve her own "bizarre sexual satisfaction".
A retrial jury at Manchester Crown Court found her guilty of committing sexual assault by using a prosthetic penis without her victim's consent.A retrial jury at Manchester Crown Court found her guilty of committing sexual assault by using a prosthetic penis without her victim's consent.
She will be sentenced on 20 July.She will be sentenced on 20 July.
'Emotionally vulnerable'
The Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC, granted Newland bail ahead of sentencing but told her the "overwhelming likelihood" was that she would receive "a significant immediate custodial sentence".The Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC, granted Newland bail ahead of sentencing but told her the "overwhelming likelihood" was that she would receive "a significant immediate custodial sentence".
Newland was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and cleared of a fourth count. Newland was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and cleared of a fourth count. She was told by the judge she would have to sign the sex offenders register.
The jury reached majority verdicts of 11-1 after deliberating for 17 hours and 25 minutes.
Newland said she created the Facebook profile of Kye Fortune - using an American man's photographs and videos - at the age of 15, because she found it difficult to talk to girls in person.Newland said she created the Facebook profile of Kye Fortune - using an American man's photographs and videos - at the age of 15, because she found it difficult to talk to girls in person.
When giving evidence behind a curtain, the "emotionally vulnerable" complainant said Kye told her he was undergoing treatment for cancer and was paranoid about his physical appearance.
She agreed to his demands for her to wear a blindfold, consisting of a sleeping mask and a light scarf, because she was in love, she said.
The complainant, also in her mid 20s, said: "There was no point until the day I took the blindfold off that I thought for one second that a woman was the person behind this."
She said she received a Facebook friend request from Kye, who shared the same birthday and interests as the defendant.
She said Kye introduced her to Newland as his best friend.
Mr Medland asked her: "To who were you consenting?
She replied: "With Kye Fortune. The person I knew from the photos, the person I had spoken to, the person I shared all my dreams with, the person who I thought was half-Filipino half-Latino."
Newland, who graduated from the University of Chester with a degree in marketing and creative writing, told the court the complainant approached her in a nightclub in 2011 and asked her if she was gay.
She said: "I said I was not comfortable with it. She told me she was gay too.
"She was not comfortable with it and no-one knew. There was common ground straightaway."
Newland's version of events was that she then drunkenly told the woman about the Kye Fortune persona and the pair began communicating in character.
The pair finally met up in character in 2013 but the defendant told the court she never dressed as a man and no blindfold was ever used.