'I should never have been put in women's jail': Trans rapist and paedophile, 57, who xesually assaulted female prisoners during a three-month reign of terror urges government to keep transgender women out of female jails
- Karen White, born a man, molested inmates in a three-month reign of terror
- White, 57, who still has male genitalia, was later moved to a men's prison
Convicted paedophile and rapist Karen White, who was born a man, molested female inmates in a three-month reign of terror at New Hall women's prison in West Yorkshire.
White, 57, who still has male genitalia, was moved to a men's prison and later received a life sentence for a series of xes crimes.
Now, in a four-page letter to a women's rights campaigner, sent from her cell at Frankland prison in County Durham, 6ft-tall White urges the Government to keep transgender women out of female jails unless they have had surgery.
White says 'all I could see was fear in the faces' of female inmates when they arrived at New Hall jail five years ago. 'They would have seen me as a man in woman's clothing and a threat to them,' writes White, who has been described as a 'towering figure in a blonde wig'.
Convicted paedophile and rapist Karen White, who was born a man, molested female inmates in a three-month reign of terror at New Hall women's prison in West Yorkshire
White, 57, who still has male genitalia, was moved to a men's prison and later received a life sentence for a series of xes crimes
'Trans women should not be in a women's prison', adding: 'I mean all transgender women, not case by case, until they have had full reassignment surgery because it's all about the women in the women's prison and their safety should be paramount.
'Housing transgender women who have not had full surgery only continues to put these vulnerable women at risk daily and know-one [sic] should be made to feel that way in their safe environment.'
White, born Stephen Wood, is serving life at Category A Frankland jail for multiple rapes, xes attacks and grievous bodily harm.
They saw me as a man – and a threat to them
The women's rights activist who received the letter said: 'It came as a bolt out of the blue. Feminists have been warning for years that female-only spaces should be protected for the sake of women's safety and now this letter shows that even trans women agree.' In the letter, White says she told court officials when she was remanded in 2017 that she should not be placed in a women's prison.
She claims a magistrate told her she would be detained in a female jail as she had been living as a woman in 'the community' for two years.
White, born Stephen Wood, is serving life at Category A Frankland jail for multiple rapes, xes attacks and grievous bodily harm
White will serve a minimum nine-and-a-half years before being considered for parole after admitting xes attacks on two female prisoners and raping two other women.
The judge at Leeds Crown Court called White 'predatory and highly manipulative'. She attacked the two women inmates at New Hall while on remand after stabbing her 66-year-old neighbour with a knife.
One of the prisoners who accused White, Cheryle Kempton, later told The Mail on Sunday how White demanded she commit a xes act, grabbed her breasts and pressed up against her while aroused.
White's letter fuels the debate on whether men who identify as women should have unfettered access to female-only spaces, following a number of xes scandals.
This year the Government introduced regulations banning trans women with male genitalia who are violent or xesual offenders from serving time in female prisons.
Exemptions can only be made in exceptional cases and with Ministers' approval.
The guidance came into force after this newspaper revealed a transgender murderer with male genitalia had consensual xes with a female inmate and was alleged to have xesually molested another at Bronzefield women's prison in west London.
Last night Liz Hogarth, a former Ministry of Justice official, said there must be no reversal of the policy on trans prisoners. She added: 'Most of the women are extremely vulnerable having experienced multiple and complex trauma, including male violence. It is never appropriate to prioritise the needs of trans-identifying males above the needs of these women.'
In Scotland, prison chiefs halted the movement of transgender xes offenders this year after a furious backlash against double rapist Isla Bryson being sent to a women's prison. She was later moved to the male jail.
