A woman who pretended to be a man to dupe a disabled woman into a sexual relationship has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison. Blade Silvano, 41, met the victim on the dating site Plenty of Fish in November 2016 and became engaged to her, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
Silvano used a fake name, Blade Mendez, and maintained a 'wholly fake persona' throughout the two-year relationship. She sent the victim photos of herself shaving, pretended to urinate standing up, and lied about having cancer and being trampled by cows. During intimate encounters, she refused to be seen naked and used a strap-on penis or double-ended dildo to penetrate the woman.
The victim, a mother of young children, discovered the deception in September 2018 after finding Silvano on Facebook in a different living situation. She told the court: 'I consented to having sex with a male for the penis. Not a female penetrating me with something – I’m still unaware what it was.'
Judge Philip Grey said the case was not about gender dysphoria or sexuality, but about 'deception, skilfully carried out and maliciously maintained'. Silvano was found guilty in May of two counts of assault by penetration.
The victim's impact statement described how her 'whole world came tumbling down' after learning the truth. She had paid a deposit on a wedding venue and tried on dresses before Silvano repeatedly postponed the wedding with lies about illness.
