LONDON — A British woman who pretended to be a man to have sex with a female friend has been sentenced to eight years in prison for sexual assault.
Prosecutors say 25-year-old Gayle Newland went to great lengths to create a male persona, setting up a Facebook account in the name "Kye Fortune."
The pair spoke by phone over the course of two years and eventually met, with Newland persuading her friend to wear a blindfold.
The deception was discovered when the complainant removed her mask and saw Newland wearing a prosthetic penis.
Newland claimed her accuser always knew she was pretending to be a man, but a jury convicted her of sexual assault.
Passing sentence Thursday, Judge Roger Dutton called Newland's behavior a callous breach of trust.
'Fake man' who tricked woman into sex jailed for 8 years
The pair spoke by phone over the course of two years and eventually met, with Newland persuading her friend to wear a blindfold. Philstar.com/File