Woman who posed as a boy to have relations with teen girl convicted of sex assault, cleared of other charges
Georgia Bilham tricked short-sighted girl into relationship by taking away teenager's glasses
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CHESTER, ENGLAND — A woman who posed as a boy called George has been found guilty of one charge of sex assault but cleared of 16 other charges after she was accused of tricking a teenage girl into having sex with her.
Georgia Bilham, 21, fooled her victim after contacting her using a fake Snapchat profile for a "George Parry."
She would wear boys’ clothes, keep her hood up and hide her long blonde hair, even when the pair slept together, claiming to be "paranoid" because of ties to an Albanian drug gang.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bilham would also take away the very short-sighted girl’s glasses when they met, leaving her "essentially blind," and speak like a man with a Birmingham accent to disguise her true identity.
Georgia Bilham arrives at Chester Crown Court on June 5, 2023. Bilham was found guilty of one count of sexual assault. She was charged with 17 sexual assaults on a 19-year-old female, who she is alleged to have tricked into believing she was a man by having the myopic victim remove her glasses. (News Licensing / MEGA)
She denied nine counts of sexual assault and eight counts of assault by penetration between May and August 2021.
But a jury at Chester Crown Court found Bilham guilty of one sexual assault after a 10-day trial.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She was cleared of the other 16 charges.
UK MAN SENTENCED FOR MURDER AFTER DRUNKENLY TELLING POLICE 'WHAT HAPPENED'
The court heard how Bilham, who claimed not to have gotten any sexual gratification out of the relationship, deceived her victim into thinking she was a young man after they began messaging online.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They eventually met up, and their relationship became sexual with the girl still believing Bilham was a boy, according to the prosecution.
Bilham was only found out when the girl’s mother became suspicious and told her that George was a girl, causing her daughter to "burst into tears."
The girl then discovered that George was actually Bilham after investigating her identity on social media.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She felt "sick" on learning the truth, the court heard, after telling detectives she wasn’t gay.
The prosecution said the girl — who can’t be named for legal reasons — couldn’t have fully consented to the sexual activity because she believed George was really male.
And they labeled Bilham "an accomplished liar" who had deceived her alleged victim into a sexual relationship by creating the character George Parry.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bilham, 21, admitted pretending to be George but said she got trapped in a "web of lies."
BRITAIN'S MOST NOTORIOUS AND VIOLENT PRISONER HAS BID FOR FREEDOM REJECTED
Bilham admitted having sexual activity with the girl but claimed the teenager knew she was female. (News Licensing / MEGA)
She admitted having sexual activity with the girl but claimed the teenager knew she was female.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She claimed her elaborate lies during the relationship were aimed at hiding the fact that she was Georgia Bilham — not at trying to trick the girl into sex while believing she was a boy.
Bilham denied having ever placed anything in her underwear to mimic a penis and claimed her alleged victim had sometimes kept her glasses on when they met.
She created the George Parry Snapchat profile, using a photo of a boy with spiky blond hair that she knew at school, as an "escape" because she wasn’t happy with herself.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Her relationship with the girl was described as "love-hate" and sometimes "toxic."
Bilham, who described herself as a bit of a "tomboy" growing up, said she had never wanted to change her gender and become a boy and had always considered herself straight. (Steve Allen/PA Images via Getty Images)
Bilham, who described herself as a bit of a ‘tomboy’ growing up, said she had never wanted to change her gender and become a boy and had always considered herself straight.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Her lawyer, Martine Snowdon, told the jury that the teenager knew "George" was really a woman yet she continued with the relationship.
"There is no doubt that Georgia Bilham lied about who she was, but they both knew it was fiction," Snowdon said.
The jury heard that Bilham was driving around in her mother’s Ford Focus with the girl one night in May 2021 when it crashed into a hedge.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}When the police arrived, the girl heard "George" giving officers her real name and Bilham said she believed the girl knew she was actually female from that point onward.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Chester Crown Court in Chester, northwest England, on March 11, 2022. (LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images)
The jury heard how the girl confronted Bilham after learning who "he" really was.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a message, she wrote: "Just admit you've been caught out, I know more than enough now."
Bilham replied: "I don’t even dress like a lad, it just took over my life."
Judge Michael Leeming released Bilham on bail ahead of sentencing on July 19, but warned her that it was "no indication" a custodial sentence wouldn’t be imposed.