Pronouns in court

Don’t do that.

Headline:

Child rapist threatened to kill herself when undeclared device found during visit

You already know the punchline. There aren’t a whole lot of female “rapists.” There may be some female sadists who shove things up children, but rape is anatomically impossible for women, as well as being just not something women want to do or feel driven to do. It’s not cute to pin male crimes on women because “pronouns!!!”.

A convicted child rapist who is banned from owning internet devices unless approved threatened to kill herself when one was found at her home.

That is, “to kill himself when one was found at his home.” That’s a man, who committed a peculiarly and particularly male crime.

Alex Smith, who is transitioning from male to female and is formally known as Matthew Burren, was arrested after officers carried out an unannounced visit to her home in Beaulieu Close, Toothill, Swindon, yesterday (1 March).

At Swindon Magistrates’ Court today, the 28-year-old admitted breaching the terms of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) – which prevents her from owning internet-enabled devices without seeking permission from probation service officers prior – by failing to declare the device for inspection.

Taking into account four previous breaches of the SHPO and that the sentencing starting point for the offence is 12 months in custody, district judge Joanna Dickens adjourned the case so the defendant can talk through a report with the probation service.

Bailing the defendant without conditions, she said: “Obviously people have concerns about you, but I’m going to take a chance”.

I wonder if the judge decided to take a chance because she’d been nudged into thinking of the defendant as a woman, thanks to all the pronoun palaver.

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