Description
A woman sexually abused as a child told a court her life was "destroyed" by the perpetrator's actions.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim was 13 when she was groped and feared rape by Ryan Haley, a biological male now identifying as a woman called Natalie Wolf, in the Washington area.
The victim said: "While I struggled to exist in my own skin, the person who hurt me seems to have found peace in theirs."
Wolf, 47, from Byker in Newcastle, was convicted of sexual activity with a child and jailed for three years and six months. Wolf, who claimed to be the victim of a "conspiracy" and alleged jurors were "hypnotised," was referred to by female pronouns in court and held on remand at a men's prison.
Then under 30, Wolf groped the girl's chest and tried to touch her groin, prosecutor Nicoleta Alistari said.
The victim, speaking out "not just for me but for all the women and children sexually abused by men," said: "Ryan Haley wants everyone to know him as Natalie Wolf, in my eyes he is Ryan Haley, the man who sexually abused me."
She described "few things more isolating than living in a body you don't feel at home in," adding the abuse's "discomfort" shaped her life, instilling shame, self-doubt, and disconnection while Wolf "moved forward."
Her body felt like a "battlefield, a place I couldn't claim," she said, adding: "Ryan, you destroyed me as a child, a teenager and as an adult."
Watching her abuser "celebrate their life, body and choices" felt like "salt in the wound," she said. "Today I am finally going to get my justice I have fought for over many years," adding her abuser would get what they deserved.
Wolf, unrepresented, called the charge a "pack of lies" and planned an appeal. Judge Gavin Doig said jurors were "sure" of guilt.
Wolf claimed brain damage and being born "intersex," and alleged a conspiracy involving courts, police, and others, including "hypnotised" or planted jurors.
"You are not the victim of a conspiracy," Judge Doig told Wolf. "You are not the victim here at all."
Praising the victim's bravery, the judge wished her well and hoped Wolf, with a personality disorder and long-standing mental health issues, would "move on" and seek help. But he warned: "If you continue to believe you are the victim of a conspiracy and nothing is your own fault, this will lead only to greater misery for you."
Wolf was given a sexual harm prevention order and must sign the sex offender register for life.