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Woman who posed as boy to sexually assault up to 50 girls is jailed
Woman who posed as boy to sexually assault up to 50 girls is jailed
(32 minutes later)
Gemma Watts pleads guilty to seven sexual assault and grooming charges
Gemma Watts pleads guilty to seven sexual assault and grooming charges
A woman who posed as a teenage boy to groom and sexually assault up to 50 girls has been jailed for eight years.
A woman who posed as a teenage boy to groom girls as young as 13 online and travelled around the country to sexually abuse them has been jailed for eight years.
Gemma Watts, 21, travelled the country by train to meet the girls, who believed they were in a relationship with a boy close to their own age.
Some of the vulnerable girls targeted by Gemma Watts, 21, were so traumatised by their ordeals and a sense of betrayal that they have self-harmed or tried to kill themselves.
Disguised with her long hair tied into a bun and wearing a baseball cap, baggy jogging bottoms and a hoodie, Watts convinced them she was 16-year-old “Jake Waton”. She used her own picture on Jake’s Snapchat and Instagram accounts, targeting girls aged 14 to 16 by liking their profiles.
Watts, who used the alias “Jake Waton”, was jailed for seven offences involving four girls but detectives believe she may have groomed as many as 50 teenagers and are appealing for other victims to come forward.
Watts, who lived at home with her mother in Enfield, north London, shared skateboarding videos, used teenage slang and flattered them with complimentary messages, calling them “babe” or other pet names.
Officers said many victims would only realise they had been tricked by Watts now she has been jailed and her case widely publicised.
She swapped messages with victims, including intimate photographs, using WhatsApp, Snapchat, or text, and spoke on the phone before meeting them in person.
Watts, who lived at home with her mother in Enfield, north London, shared skateboarding videos and flattered victims with complimentary messages, calling them “babe” or other pet names.
Watts was so convincing that she even spent time as Jake with some of the girls’ parents. All of Watts’ victims believed they were in a relationship with a teenage boy until police revealed she was in fact an adult woman.
When she met victims in person, she tied her long hair into a bun and wore a baseball cap, baggy jogging bottoms and a hoodie to convince the girls she was Jake. Watts was so convincing that she even spent lengthy spells as Jake with some of the girls’ parents.
The judge, Susan Evans, said there had been significant planning and elements of Watts’s behaviour were predatory. All the girls she had targeted were vulnerable and some had previously been bullied and had low self-esteem.
After she was arrested, Watts told police she saw it as a game and claimed: “I was only trying to cheer them up.”
The judge, Susan Evans, said there was significant planning behind Watts’s campaign and elements of her behaviour were predatory. All the girls she targeted were vulnerable and some had previously been bullied and had low self-esteem.
The judge said it was worrying that even after being warned by police, Watts continued to groom and meet girls. “It seems that nothing deterred you,” she said.
The judge said it was worrying that even after being warned by police, Watts continued to groom and meet girls. “It seems that nothing deterred you,” she said.
Evans accepted Watts had a low IQ, was immature, had issues about her own sexuality and had no previous convictions. But she said some of the abuse was sustained and some victims had suffered severe psychological harm.
Evans accepted Watts had a low IQ, was immature, had issues about her own sexuality and had no previous convictions. But she said some of the abuse was sustained and some victims suffered severe psychological harm.
Winchester crown court heard that Watts groomed girls as young as 13. On at least one occasion, Watts stuffed rolled-up socks into her shorts to trick a victim into thinking she had a penis and lied that her breasts were “man boobs” because she had previously been overweight. The court heard she physically assaulted one victim and once held a knife towards her throat.
Her victims included a 14-year-old from Hampshire who had suffered bullying and mental health problems.
After discovering they had been tricked, some of the victims said they had self-harmed, contemplated killing themselves and found it difficult to trust anyone. One said: “She’s in my head … I think what she has done to me is gross, horrible.” Another said she felt physically sick when she found out she had been deceived and had moved college because she believed Watts would track her down.
When the girl questioned Watts over her breasts, she said they were “man boobs” that had appeared when she was overweight.
One victim saw images of Watts without her disguise. Watts initially claimed the picture was her cousin and then claimed it was Jake trying out women’s clothing. When a victim asked Watts why Jake’s bedroom was pink, she said it used to be a female relative’s room.
The girl found real images of Watts dressed as a woman but Watts claimed she had been experimenting with wearing female clothes. Watts even stuffed rolled-up socks into her shorts to trick the girl into making it appear that she had a penis.
After she was arrested, Watts told police she saw it as a game and claimed: “I was only trying to cheer them up.” Barnaby Shaw, prosecuting, said: “It is apparent she was adept at manipulating people.”
The court was told Watts became increasingly violent towards the girl, trying to push her into the path of a vehicle and once threatening her with a knife.
Defending, Patrick Maggs said Watts, who had no previous convictions, had a low IQ and was struggling with her gender and sexuality.
In her victim impact statement, the teenager said her “heart exploded” when she found out Jake was an adult woman. She said she had loved Jake and thought she could tell him everything.
DC Phillipa Kenwright from the Metropolitan police said: “It’s been life-changing for all of the victims involved. They believed they were in a relationship with a young teenage boy, to then find out this was actually a female.
Since the truth emerged, the girl said she had cut herself and been admitted to hospital after taking tablets. “She’s in my head,” the victim said. “What she has done to me is gross, horrible.”
“For some of these girls it was their first relationship … She’s duped them the whole time. A lot of these victims are young, quite innocent. They have been completely taken in by Gemma Watts. They all believed they were in a relationship with a male.”
Watts also met up with another 14-year-old girl from Surrey while posing as Jake. The girl was excited at receiving her first “proper” kiss. The youngest victim identified so far was just 13.
Investigators have identified a total of seven victims, some of whom do not want to give a statement.
While police investigated Watts, she was ordered by a court not to approach anyone aged under 16 but she breached the order within days.
But DC Kenwright said: “I think there will be further victims, who were in a relationship with Watts, who will now realise she is a woman. I think there could be 20 to 50. I think she had been grooming other young victims online using social media profiles, which are very believable.”
Speaking outside court, DC Phillipa Kenwright of the Metropolitan police said: “I think there will be further victims, who were in a relationship with Watts, who will now realise she is a woman. I think there could be 20 to 50.”
Watts first came to the attention of Hampshire police in March 2018 after a doctor raised concerns that a girl was in a relationship with an older boy.
PC Nicola Benson, from Hampshire constabulary’s missing and exploited team, said: “The level of manipulation and deceit used by Watts to snare her victims in this case was truly shocking.”
The Met got involved in July that year after the defendant admitted she had been sexually active as Jake with the first three victims.
Watts admitted one offence of assault by penetration, three other sexual assaults and three counts of meeting a child following sexual grooming.
She was released under investigation by Hampshire police but arrested again in October 2018 by British Transport Police officers, who found her with the fourth girl, from the West Midlands, after the victim was reported missing by her parents.
Officers had initially believed Watts was 16-year-old Jake and were taking her home to London before making the link.
Scotland Yard secured a civil sexual risk order in November 2018, in an effort to protect the public, which Watts breached just two weeks later.
She was held on remand after being arrested for sexual assault in March last year but was free again in August when she was acquitted.
Watts was finally charged in September and pleaded guilty to seven offences of sexual assault and grooming against 14- and 15-year-old girls in November.
