Allan/Jessica Brennan

Allan/Jessica Brennan, a violent male who identifies as a trans woman, was convicted at York Crown Court in May 2021 of multiple sexual offences against children. The offences were; attempted rape of a child under 13; assault of a girl under 13 by penetration; five counts of sexual activity with a child; assault by penetration; two counts of sexual assault; sexual activity with a child; and five counts of indecent assault.

Brennan, 54, perpetrated the offences against four school-aged children for the 18 years between 1998 and 2016. Det Con Rebecca Prentice, of North Yorkshire Police, said the lives of the victims and their families were “shattered” by the “vile and dangerous paedophile” and she hoped they could now start to rebuild them. Like the media, the officer referred to Brennan with female pronouns i.e. she chose to align with the assumed identity of a rapist paedophile rather than the reality of the women who were sexually abused as children.

The York Press reports the devastation caused to the female victim’s lives with one of the victims left feeling “ashamed and guilty” about the abuse she’d suffered and how she felt that it was in some way her fault, and that she was to blame. Another victim described losing her self-esteem and her self-worth and explained how she felt guilty and found it hard to trust people. “I feel worthless” she said.

The court heard from another victim who said that she now suffered with anxiety attacks and wanted the memories of what had happened to her to “simply vanish”. She added that she felt like they never would as she has been left with “mental scars” from what Brennan did to her. Another victim spoke of her “pain and suffering over the last 21 years” and said “I’m constantly haunted by what happened to me.”

For perpetrating such serious sexual offences against children, Brennan was jailed for 22 years. The judge also imposed a four-year extended licence upon eventual release, ordered that Brennan sign the sex offenders register for life and handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Protection Order, which will place strict restrictions on where Brennan can go when released from prison.

Image via North Yorkshire Police

Media reports

BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-57157604 archive

York Press https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/19310627.vile-dangerous-harrogate-paedophile-behind-bars/ archive

Yorkshire Examiner https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/vile-dangerous-woman-tried-rape-20625854 archive

Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9596003/Transgender-woman-sexually-abused-girls-young-four-jailed-22-years.html archive