Woman who posed as man to sexually assault short-sighted teen spared jail
A woman accused of posing as a man to prey on a short-sighted teenage girl has been given a community order for sexually assaulting her victim by kissing.
Georgia Bilham was cleared by a jury of all but one of the 17 alleged offences after going on trial at Chester Crown Court. Her trial was told she created an online Snapchat persona in the name of George Parry to trick the 19-year-old into thinking she was a man.
‘George’ always wore a hood over his head, even in bed, while with the teenager, who, the court was told, is severely short-sighted. 'George’ claimed to be “paranoid” because of his involvement with Albanian gangsters.
Bilham, 21, said after the first time they met in person the complainant messaged her to say, “There’s something weird about you,” and blocked her on Snapchat. But there continued to be an online “love-hate relationship”, which became “toxic” at times, the court heard.
She said she believed her cover was blown after crashing her mother’s car into a hedge while out for a drive with the teenager on May 11 2021. Jurors convicted her of sexually assaulting the girl by kissing her that evening.
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She told jurors she believes a police officer called to the scene revealed her true identity to the complainant after checking her driving licence. She said: “I think they told her I was female. It was not George, it was Georgia.” The defendant said from that point she believes the teenager knew she was really a woman. Giving evidence, the complainant’s mother said her daughter told her about seeing someone called George, who she said had social anxiety so kept his hood up.
Bilham, from Alpraham, Cheshire, denied nine sexual assaults and eight counts of assault by penetration, all between May to August 2021. She was sentenced to a 24-month community order. She will be made to sign the sex offenders register.
Georgia Bilham was found guilty of one charge (Facebook/Ian Leonard)
She was placed on the sex offenders register (Facebook/Ian Leonard)Bilham admitted being caught up in a “web of lies” but denied getting a “buzz” out of deceiving the teenager, maintaining throughout that she thought the woman she had sex with believed she was a woman. She told the court she had been “a bit of a tomboy” when she was younger and had a difficult relationship with her mother after her parents split when she was a teenager.
She said she never wanted to change gender but questioned her sexuality and that her mother would “not be happy” if she was in a same-sex relationship. Asked why she set up the fake Snapchat account pretending to be a boy, Bilham replied: “I just was not happy in myself. I just… it was just more like an escape. I don’t know. I was not confident in myself. It was a stupid thing to do. It was a way of not being me.”
CCTV shown to the court showed Bilham dressed up in her disguise buying what appears to be sweets in a petrol station shop. As she pays over the counter with her phone, she can be seen pushing her navy blue hoodie down and never removing it from her head in order to appear like a boy.
Bilham had denied nine sexual assaults and eight counts of assault by penetration, all between May to August 2021. In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Anna Pope, the complainant said the ordeal she had been through had left her suffering nightmares, unable to eat properly and feeling scared in her own home.
CCTV of Bilham dressed at George (Cheshire Police)The statement said: “This has stopped me being able to go out with my friends. I suffer with panic attacks. I’m scared because she has shown no remorse for what she has done to me. I am embarrassed about what I have been through. I have a constant battle with myself, fighting not to fall into the black hole I fought to get out of. I still can’t comprehend it.
“I hate myself for what I put up with. I let someone take my sight so they could feel comfortable. I feel so stupid and disgusted in myself. It makes my skin crawl. I don’t think I will ever come to terms with what has happened. I am grateful for the guilty verdict because after everything she has put me through, I want her to get the help and support she needs.”
Mitigating for Bilham, Martine Snowdon said it was clear there had been “deception” but said there was no evidence the defendant had pursued the relationship with the intention of committing a sexual offence. She said: “They had a close relationship and they supported each other. She clearly knew how wrong her behaviour was. She feels guilty, and she felt guilty at the time. It was a mutually supportive relationship – she is not a sexual predator. She worked as a care worker and has a very caring side.
“She has always genuinely regretted this behaviour. She was aware she was doing something wrong and she had a sense of relief when it all came out into the open because it got her out of a situation of her own making that she could not get out of herself.”
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Sentencing Bilham, who sat in the dock wearing black and looked at the ground for most of the hearing, Judge Leeming said: “You took advantage of the complainant’s relative naivety. She was taken in by you. You presented as a boy, wore male clothing with a hood up to cover your hair. You always wore a hood up, come rain or shine.
“The complainant was attracted to you, as a male. The complainant was short-sighted – you knew that and removed her glasses. The complainant never gave her true consent to being kissed by you because it was on the basis that you were male.
“She had been deceived as to your true identity. You continue to deny your behaviour was sexually motivated. You are said to express regret and relief that this is out in the open. You must bear your responsibility for the embarrassment and distress you have caused.”
As well as the community order, Bilham must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and take part in 35 rehabilitation days.
She was also given a restraining order, must sign the sex offenders’ register for five years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, also for five years.
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