A woman who pretended to be a man to have sex with another woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexual assault.
Gayle Newland, 25, was last month convicted of three counts of sexual assault against a 23-year old woman who had believed she was in a sexual relationship with a man.
The pair met on Facebook, where Newland had set up a fake account under the name Kye Fortune. She disguised her appearance and voice and blindfolded her victim whenever they met, telling her that she didn't want her to see scars caused by a car accident and a brain tumour.
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The elaborate deception was uncovered during their last sexual encounter, when the victim pulled off her blindfold and saw that Newland was using a prosthetic penis, the BBC reports.
Newland claimed that her victim knew that she was a woman and that the pair were both struggling with their sexuality and liked to engage in role play. This was rejected by the court.
Sentencing her, Judge Roger Dutton described Newland as an "intelligent, obsessional, highly manipulative, deceitful, scheming and thoroughly determined".
He accused her of "acting entirely for your own sexual satisfaction and choosing to ignore the devastating impact that the eventual discovery of the truth would have on her."
He accepted that Newland had a variety of mental health problems including a personality disorder and depression but said this did not mean he could deliver a lenient sentence.
"These offences are so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence would in any way properly reflect the serious nature of your conduct."
