JASMINE HILL FROM CORNWALL SENTENCED FOR FALSE RAPE CLAIMS AND GROOMING UNDERAGE BOYS IN DEVON PRISON
In a case that has drawn significant attention, Jasmine Hill, a 21-year-old woman from Cornwall, has been found guilty of fabricating serious allegations of sexual assault while she was detained in a male prison in Devon.The court proceedings revealed that Hill, who is transgender and pre-operative, falsely accused two men of raping her in her cell at HMP Exeter, a men's prison that serves the Cornwall and South West region.
These false allegations were made prior to her sentencing for a series of sexual offences involving underage teenage boys.
Hill appeared at Truro Crown Court via video link, where she pleaded guilty to two counts of perverting the course of justice.
The court was informed that her prison sentence, handed down in February 2017, was for four and a half years after she admitted to grooming underage boys through social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.
She had created fake profiles, including pretending to be a teenage girl, to lure young boys into sending explicit images of themselves.
Her criminal record includes previous convictions for similar offences.
In May 2015, Hill was convicted of inciting a child to perform sexual acts, and a sexual harm prevention order was issued to restrict her online contact with minors.
Despite this, police discovered that she continued her predatory behavior after her arrest, particularly when her phone was seized while she was staying at a bail hostel in Camborne.
The police investigation uncovered communications with a fabricated person, which she used to manipulate and groom young boys, including a schoolboy who believed he was speaking with a peer of his own age.
Heather Hope, the prosecutor, explained that Hill's false rape claims date back to 2015 and 2016.
The first allegation was made in 2015, and the second in 2016 while she was on remand at HMP Exeter.
Hill provided police with detailed descriptions of her supposed assaults, claiming she was raped in her cell at the men's prison.
However, subsequent investigations, including CCTV footage analysis, proved that the victims—whose identities are protected for legal reasons—could not have committed the acts she described.
Both men were arrested, questioned, and examined, but their alibis were confirmed by the footage, which showed they could not have been involved.
Representing Hill, barrister Barry Hilliard, stated that her actions stemmed from a personality disorder and that she had fabricated the stories impulsively, without prior planning.
He acknowledged that her behavior was influenced by the challenging environment of the prison, especially given her transgender status and her placement in a special wing on the Isle of Wight with other transgender inmates.
Hilliard emphasized the difficulties faced by transgender prisoners, noting that the law under the 2004 Gender Recognition Act allows individuals to apply for gender recognition, but without such recognition, pre-op transgender women are often held in male facilities.
Judge Simon Carr addressed Hill directly, acknowledging her difficult childhood and current struggles but condemning her manipulative tendencies.
The judge highlighted that Hill posed a significant risk of harm to children, which was a key factor in her sentencing.
He emphasized the gravity of her offences, which included both the false rape allegations and her grooming of underage boys.
Hill was sentenced to an additional two years for each of the two false rape accusations, to be served consecutively, adding four years to her existing sentence.
She was returned to prison to serve her extended sentence, which will be completed when authorities deem her safe for release.
HMP Exeter, where Hill was held, is a men's prison that handles remand cases from Cornwall and the wider South West.
The legal framework under the 2004 Gender Recognition Act permits transgender individuals to seek gender recognition, but in Hill's case, her pre-operative status meant she was housed in a male facility, raising ongoing debates about the treatment and placement of transgender prisoners.
As of 2016, there were approximately 70 transgender inmates across 33 prisons in England and Wales, with guidance indicating that solitary confinement is neither fair nor appropriate for transgender prisoners.
In a related case from February 2017, a 20-year-old woman was jailed for pretending to be a teenage girl to lure underage boys into sending explicit images.
This individual used a fake Facebook account to groom young boys, encouraging them to perform increasingly sexual acts.
Her actions were discovered after police seized her phone while she was at a bail hostel in Camborne.
She had previous convictions for similar offences, including inciting a child to perform sexual acts and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Her sentencing included a four-and-a-half-year term for inciting a child to perform sexual acts, activation of an 18-month suspended sentence, and additional jail terms for other offences.
The court also imposed a new sexual prevention order, restricting her contact with minors and requiring her to submit her devices for police inspection at any time.
