Lexi Secker before identifying as female (Image: Wiltshire Police)
A rapist who now identifies as a woman after attacking victims as a man has been jailed for more than six years.
Lexi Secker, 35, was convicted of one count of rape after a four-day trial at Swindon Crown Court in June this year.
She will be jailed in a male prison after the previous scandal of sex attacks by transgender rapists on female prisoners.
The court heard Secker was living as a man when the attack took place after a night out in Blunsdon, Wiltshire, in April 2023.
Judge Jason Taylor KC jailed Secker, who had no previous convictions, to six and a half years in a male prison on Friday.
Sentencing Secker, the judge described how the victim had been on a night out with the defendant and was “significantly affected by alcohol”.
Lexi Secker was today jailed for six years (Image: PA)
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The judge said: “I am sure you hatched a plan to be alone with her. You suggested you take her for a walk under the pretence of sobering up. You took her to a secluded spot in the woods.”
He described how the defendant was “focused on your own sexual gratification” when the attack took place.
During the trial, Secker claimed the incident was “consensual intercourse” initiated by the victim, the judge said.
The court heard Secker, of Lowbourne, near Melksham, Wiltshire, has depression and gender dysphoria and requires psychological and medical treatment.
Secker has been subjected to numerous assaults while being held at a male prison, it was alleged.
Judge Taylor told Secker: “You now identify as a woman and are attracted to men.
“At the time of this offence, you were a man. You identified as a man and you were, on the evidence, clearly attracted to women.
“You were able to exercise judgment, make rational choices and understood the nature and consequences of your actions.
“You were not disinhibited at the time by your conditions. There is no evidence they were as present and compelling as they are now.”
The judge said he was sentencing Secker “with regard to how difficult a prison sentence in a male institution will be for you”.
Secker, who appeared via video link from HMP Bristol, wept as the sentence was passed. He will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.
Wiltshire Police previously said Secker was living as a man when the attack took place on April 23 2023 but was tried as a woman at Swindon Crown Court.
The force confirmed that the rape was recorded as being committed by a man.
It is understood that the sex of a defendant recorded by the police is used throughout the stages of the criminal justice system.
This means the sex first recorded by police will mirror what is on court records and in criminal justice data relating to charges, offences and convictions.
Today, Secker appeared on the court list for the court as Alexander Secker for the case.
However, at the beginning of proceedings the court clerk asked whether the defendant was “Lexi Secker”, to which the reply was “yes”.
Barristers and the judge referred to the defendant as “Ms Secker” and “she” throughout the sentencing hearing.
However, in a victim personal statement, the woman raped by Secker used the name “Alex” to describe the defendant.
She said: “He took away my trust in people and myself. The assault consumed me with shame and fear.”
The woman, who attended court in person to see Secker sentenced, said she had experienced “unbearable anxiety, shame and fear” since the attack.