An adult sex offender identified in prison as Alexis, trans woman, was sentenced to one-year imprisonment after being found out he had been socializing with minors under 16.
Aaron Herschell was 24, and renamed himself Alexis while in jail following his 2016 transition from male into female. He pleaded guilty Friday to violating the Risk of Sexual Harm Order.
He admitted that he was with children below 16 on May 16 and 17, despite having been banned by the order.
Herschell was sentenced in West Lothian to 14 months imprisonment at HMP Addiewell, an all-male prison. He was told that his name would be kept on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Sheriff Douglas Kinloch sentenced him and warned Herschell that he would go to jail for the third time because he had repeatedly violated his public safety orders.
Aaron Herschell (24), who changed his name to Alexis in prison after he transitioned from male to feminine in 2016, pleaded guilty on Friday to violating the Risk of Sexual Harm Order in Livingston Sheriff Court
Herschell caused outrage when he asked for gender reassignment as a first in Scotland during his rape trial at Polmont Young Offender’s Institution in Falkirk, 2016.
The alleged serious charges against Herschell made it clear that female officers were concerned about being ordered to perform ‘rubdown” searches. Guards were concerned that they might lose their jobs if the officers refused to perform searches.
In July 2017, he was convicted by the High Court of Glasgow for the attempted rape on a 19-year old woman that he met via the MeetMe dating app.
After being released from prison in October 2018, he was sent to detention for two years. However, he was returned to prison because he had violated the terms of his license.
After the jury returned an unproven verdict, Herschell was acquitted also of the second count of raping a 18-year old girl. This was despite Herschell’s confession to the crime by his friends in a video.
Herschell was subjected to strict terms of a Risk of Sexual Harm Order in May 2020. However, he violated those conditions by deleting chat records and dating apps from his computer and phone between 30 October 2019 and 10 December 2019.
Data including the Kik app that allows you to chat and flirt with boys and girls from certain age groups was deleted.
Herschell was sentenced in West Lothian to 14 months of imprisonment at HMP Addiewell, an all-male facility. It is believed that he will remain on the sex offender’s register for the next 10 year.
Herschell had been found with several children at the house of a close friend in Livingston earlier this year.
The ROSHO prohibited Herschell from West Calder in West Lothian from any communication or contact with anybody under 16 except for an ‘incidental contact’.
He was discovered by several young people at the house of a close friend in Livingston earlier in the year.
Andy Aitken, who was defending Andy, said that his client had violated two public protection orders before.
But he said that there was only one motive — sinister or other – to help his friend.
“There wasn’t anything untoward in his conduct other than the fact that he shouldn’t have been around children.
“He knows that if he does not comply with all the terms and conditions, a sentence will be given.”
He stated that Herschell’s past offences were ‘no way’ connected to children.
Sheriff Douglas Kinloch jailed the defendant and said to him, “Unfortunately, this is your third conviction for failing to follow the terms of an order that was made to protect the public.”
“You received prison sentences for the two previous breaches. A prison sentence on the third is likely to be given to you to remind you of how important it is to comply with the conditions.
The ROSHO will remain in effect until 2025, so he did not decide to impose an extra sentence.
His sentence was remanded to Herschell on 8 June, when he was first placed in custody. Herschell told him that his name would continue to be listed on the Register of Sexual Offenders for 10 more years.