A British woman is on trial for allegedly tricking a teenage girl into a romantic relationship by posing as a man and persuading her partner, who had vision problems, to remove her glasses during sexual encounters.
According to reports from the Telegraph, Georgia Bilham, 21, is accused of creating fake social media profiles using the alias “George Parry” and sending messages to the teenager under the username “George_132.” The profile picture showed a cartoon of a blond man wearing sunglasses.
The couple met in early 2021 and began a romantic relationship under false pretenses, Chester Crown Court reported. A key aspect of this alleged ruse was that the woman had “very poor” vision, and Bilham insisted that she remove her glasses before sexual encounters, which left her virtually “blind”, the jury told the jury.
“This case is about how the defendant deceived someone who was actually a young man,” prosecutor Anna Pope said in her opening statement. “We contend that all of the sexual activities that took place between these two individuals were based on a false pretense and therefore there was no actual consent,” he told jurors.
Bilham faces a total of 17 charges, including sexual assault and assault by penetration. During the trial, he has denied all the accusations against him. The defendant reportedly told the victim of her deception that she wore men’s clothing and hoodies due to alleged connections to an Albanian criminal gang. During the sexual encounters, the teenager tried to remove Bilham’s Calvin Klein underpants, but Bilham reacted by shaking and refusing to undress, claiming he was self-conscious due to stabbing scars, the London Times reported.
The alleged victim became increasingly frustrated, as her lover continued to make excuses and seemed unwilling to be intimate. On one occasion, police referred to “George” as “Georgia” after a traffic accident. When the teenager asked him about the female name, Bilham claimed it was a fake driver’s license, according to the Telegraph.
However, the victim became increasingly suspicious and demanded proof of identity from her partner. Bilham claimed to have no passport and provided photos of a blond youth. The charade finally came to an end in August 2021, when the victim introduced Bilham to her mother, who immediately suspected her daughter was not actually in a relationship with a man.
“Just admit that you’ve been caught. Now I know more than enough,” the victim eventually wrote to Bilham after conducting an online investigation. Allegedly, Bilham responded by saying, “I don’t even dress like a boy. I just took control of my life.” After his arrest, Bilham refused to answer any questions from investigators, the court heard. Pope said it was unclear whether Bilham was sexually attracted to the younger woman or if he gained any satisfaction from cheating on her.
