James/April Groves

James/April Groves, a violent male who identifies as a transgender woman, was convicted at Bristol Crown Court in June 2026 of 19 separate sexual offences against children, including nine counts of rape and multiple sexual assaults against a young girl.

In September 2026, Groves, aged 51 and of Little Stoke, South Gloucestershire, was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison. He will also be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for an indefinite period.

In their press release, Avon & Somerset police avoided using pronouns for Groves but did give the full list of offences he was convicted of:

  • Four counts of the rape of a child (contrary to section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003)
  • Four counts of sexual assault against a child.
  • Two counts of assault of a child by penetration.
  • Five counts of rape (contrary to section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003)
  • Two counts of assault by penetration.
  • One count of the possession of indecent photographs of a child.
  • Attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.
  • Carrying out acts intended to pervert the course of public justice.

The offences were reported to the police after Groves was arrested for inappropriate communication with a child. The victim subsequently disclosed that she had been sexually abused and raped by him over a number of years.

Likely taking their lead from how the police described Groves, the BBC did not describe him as transgender, only that he ‘also goes by the name of April’. Other media were clear, though, that Groves identifies as transgender. Upsettingly, the victim was quoted using they/them pronouns for Groves, indicating she had not been made to feel comfortable describing the man who abused her, over many years of her childhood, as a man. She described the impact his offending had on her, saying: “I felt that because Groves groomed me, I did not realise how serious what was going on was. They built up a relationship with me and in my head, I did not feel like it was enough for me to contact the police.” As her words were included in the police press release, they could potentially have been changed by officers or the victim may have been pressured into not using male pronouns for her male abuser.

Commentators have pointed out that Avon & Somerset police have been recording a suspiciously high number of rapes as having been perpetrated by women when they have likely been committed by men identifying as transgender. This is because, in English law, the crime of rape can only be committed by men as the offence specifies penetration with a penis without consent – therefore, women can only be convicted of rape in (relatively rare) instances of facilitating a man to commit the rape. In a publicly available database of criminal convictions, Groves’ “gender” is listed as “Transgender” not male.

Bristol locals have also pointed out that the trans activist-controlled city council banned women from attending public meetings after they asked difficult questions about implementation of the 2025 Supreme Court judgment that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, so services for women must exclude all male people, however they identify. Bristol Green Party councillors would presumably have welcomed a male rapist – such as Groves – into female-only changing rooms under their “Transwomen are women” beliefs.

Image credit: Avon & Somerset Constabulary press release

Media reports

BBC Sex offender jailed for ‘calculated’ abuse of girl https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c60e32dydp9wo  archive

Reduxx https://reduxx.info/uk-trans-identified-male-sentenced-to-20-years-for-raping-a-child/  archive

Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/21/transgender-sex-offender-groomed-and-raped-child/  archive

Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16148001/Trans-sex-offender-groomed-raped-young-girl-nine-times-jailed-20-years.html  archive