Mick Hartley

Meet Rachel Fenton:

The story:

A paedophile has been jailed for 10 years after using social media to groom children.

Rachel Fenton, who police said was known as Richard Fenton when arrested and charged, pleaded guilty to 21 child sexual abuse offences and a drug offence and was sent to a male prison.

The Guardian understands Fenton was living as a man when arrested in November 2020 and was later charged under that name.

But during the sentencing hearing on Monday, Manchester Minshull Street crown court heard Fenton had changed their name and was in the process of transitioning to become a woman.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester police (GMP) said the force first heard about Fenton’s transition in a pre-sentence report in April.

Fenton, from Wythenshawe, was first arrested in November 2020 after an online vigilante group contacted police. They said they had been communicating with Fenton by posing as a 12-year-old girl.

Fenton tried to incite the girl to engage in sexual activity and send videos, not knowing it was a fake profile. Fenton sent indecent images to the profile and tried to encourage the “child” to engage in sexual activity with an even younger child, aged six.

Police arrested Fenton in November 2020 on suspicion of arranging a child sexual offence and on suspicion of possession of a class A controlled drug and possession of cannabis.

Around the same time, Fenton had also been in contact with the profile of another 12-year-old girl that was controlled by law enforcement. Fenton had contacted the undercover officer and carried on conversation of a sexual nature even after the believed victim revealed her young age.

Previously in a case like this the reports – especially in a paper like the Guardian – would be careful to use the "correct" female pronouns, burying the perpetrator's real sex deep within the article, if they mentioned it at all. After all, if he says he's a woman, then he is a woman – right?

Perhaps it's the accompanying photo which persuaded them to drop the pretence, or maybe it's the sheer brazen opportunism of the man, who – I'll stick my neck out here – is no more interested in identifying as a woman than I am, but is keen to avoid a male prison given the nature of his offences.

Whatever, it doesn't seem to be working:

Fenton has been in a male prison on remand since January 2021.

Maybe the message about sex offenders gaming the system is actually getting through.