Blade Silvano: Woman who pretended to be man guilty of sex assault

Blade Silvano had denied two counts of assault by penetration

A woman who pretended to be a man in order to deceive a woman into having sex with her has been convicted.

Blade Silvano used an unknown object and wore boxer shorts when she sexually assaulted the victim whom she met online, Cambridge Crown Court heard.

Silvano claimed to have never met the victim, telling a jury the relationship was based on fantasy and roleplay.

But jurors found Silvano, 40, of Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, guilty of two counts of assault by penetration.

Remanding Silvano in custody, judge Philip Grey said he had heard "some of the most dishonest evidence I've heard in my time on the bench" and said she had been convicted after "utterly, utterly overwhelming" evidence.

The victim said the pair met online in late 2016 through dating website Plenty of Fish where she set her profile to female seeking a male, while the defendant had the opposite, jurors heard.

She said she messaged Silvano - using the name Blade Mendez - "because his picture was a little bit different to all the other pictures".

Prosecutors told jurors they had sexual intercourse in December 2016 and February 2017.

Blade Silvano was on trial at Cambridge Crown Court

But the court was told she found out Silvano was a woman shortly after her contacts were synced for a new Facebook account and the defendant came up with a "different surname to the one that I'm aware of".

In a police interview, the victim said: "I believe that I was having a sexual relationship with a man I have now found out to be female, which I have not consented to."

In evidence, Silvano claimed the pair had never met in person and she believed the complainant knew she was female.

Silvano said: "It was just a fantasy and roleplay. It was just an online communication."

She claimed the name Mendez related to a Liverpool player, which was part of the roleplay, but was unable to remember their first name.

Silvano will be sentenced at a future date.