Kurtis Mawson
Kurtis Mawson, a violent male who identifies as a transgender woman, was convicted on March 1, 2024 at Durham Crown Court of sexual assault on a female, voyeurism, three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and possessing an extreme pornographic image. He also admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and failing to comply with the sexual offender register. Mawson was sentenced to two years and one month in prison, made the subject of a 10 year SHPO and will serve his time in a male prison.
Mawson, 22, was arrested on May 5, 2022 after a member of the public observed him inside a closed cubicle of a public convenience in Durham city centre. Mawson was standing on the toilet looking into the next cubicle and the member of the public had to usher a group of young women out of the toilets. When police arrived and an officer asked if anybody was in there Mawson put on a high pitched voice in an attempt to conceal his identity and answered “Yeah”. When the officer challenged him on what he was is doing in a women’s toilet he said: “Just chilling”. He then said he was there as he identified as female.
See this tag for other trans-identified males who have offended against women and girls in public toilets and this tag for other trans-identified males who have developed prison-onset gender dysphoria – i.e suddenly claimed to be transgender once arrested – usually for a sexual offence, often in a female space.
Mawson was later found to be in possession of a mobile phone and a digital camera on which he had recorded material of women using the toilet. He had purchased a mini camera specifically for recording women and had hidden inside a toilet cubicle until someone entered the stall next to him so he could film them. When his home was searched a number of digital devices were found to contain indecent images of children. There were 80 category category A images – the most serious – as well as category B and C images. There was also an extreme pornographic image of a person sexually abusing a dog.
While on bail for the offences, Mawson sexually assaulted a female tourist who was taking a picture of Durham Cathedral from a bridge in in the city. Though it is described obliquely in media coverage, Mawson ‘committed a sex act next to the woman’ (i.e. masturbated) and it was because he ejaculated on the victim that his DNA profile was used to convict him. Unsurprisingly the court heard that the woman was “incredibly distressed. She didn’t know what to with herself. She asked a number of passers by for help.”
Detective Sergeant Louise Gore, of Durham City CID, said: “Mawson is a highly dangerous individual who showed disturbing levels of predatory behaviour towards women and used them for his own sexual gratification.
The author JK Rowling – who has set up a female-only rape crisis service because Edinburgh Rape Crisis became a mixed-sex service and hired a trans-identified male as chief executive – commented on X/Twitter “The statistics don’t lie. Some – not all – trans-identified males have committed sexual and violent offences against women and girls. Some male predators have capitalised on gender identity activism to claim a trans identity they never espoused pre-conviction or assault.”
See this tag for other trans-identified males who were convicted of sex offences via DNA evidence and this tag for endless examples of trans-identified male sex offenders who have committed public masturbation offences.
Image credit: Durham Constabulary via Chronicle Live
Media reports
Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/03/jk-rowling-happened-again-man-accused-filming-female-toilet/ archive
Chronicle Live https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/paedophile-secretly-filmed-women-public-28737673 archive
Chronicle Live https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/durham-sexual-assault-police-courts-27562145 archive
Durham Constabulary press statement https://www.durham.police.uk/News/News-Articles/2024/March/Predator-who-sexually-assaulted-tourist-in-Durham-City-is-jailed.aspx archive