AUS: Transgender Sex Offender Sentenced For Attempted Rape Weeks After Release from Women’s Prison

A serial sex offender who claims to identify as a woman has been sentenced to a maximum of three years and four months for assaulting a woman and attempting to rape her as she was walking home. Benjamin Charles Jones, who previously used the name “Lisa Jones,” but is now referring to himself as “Willow,” had just been released from a women’s prison one month prior to being arrested for the sexual assault.

Jones, who previously served a sentence in Germany for sexually assaulting a child, appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court last Thursday, where prosecutors explained that on the evening of September 8, he grabbed a 31-year-old woman as she walked past St. Mary’s cathedral in central Sydney.

CCTV footage recorded the attack as Jones pulled her by her waist into a hidden corner. When she demanded to be let go, Jones replied, “I want to f–k you. Just let me f–k you.”

As the woman struggled to get free, Jones pulled down his pants and attempted to force an object into her mouth to silence her. When she was finally able to break free, she ran towards bystanders who helped her flag down a police car. After a brief search, law enforcement arrested Jones.

According to courtroom reports from the Sydney Morning Herald, Jones was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. He reportedly told a psychiatrist that he lived in an “astral world,” and that the devil had made a bargain with his “sex spirit,” and forced him to “engage in sex rituals.”

But when Jones was standing before the court, he reportedly exclaimed, “I identify as transgender and queer… I had nothing to do with it.”

The woman shared the effect of the “unprecedented, unexpected, and aggressive act” in a victim impact statement she read to the court.

“The experience permanently made me more aware of a risk in public spaces and more cautious in situations where I previously felt at ease,” she said.

“I had always walked freely without fear or intimidation, and this experience fundamentally changed my sense of safety. I had become more prepared, but also more vigilant, knowing that one’s life can be suddenly disrupted by extreme violence, even when simply trying to get home.”

Judge Troy Anderson described the crime as “intentional and, frankly, very frightening”. However, during sentencing he took into consideration Jones’ diagnoses of schizophrenia, gender dysphoria, historic substance abuse and depression and anxiety. In Sydney, the maximum penalty for rape, or an attempt to commit it, falls under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years; whereas Jones, a repeat criminal on the sex offender registry, was handed a three-year sentence. With time already spent in custody, Jones will be eligible for parole in just two months, on November 21.

Disturbingly, Jones’ most recent attack on a woman shares many similarities with a previous attempted rape he committed in 2021. In that case, Jones stalked a woman as she was walking home on Lennox Street in Richmond before grabbing her and attempting to rape her. While pinning her down, Jones repeated: “Why won’t you lay down and have sex with me?”

The woman had been on a phone call with her mother at the time, and began screaming her location into the receiver before Jones snatched the phone away and disconnected the call.

Jones put his hands down the woman’s underwear and tried to pull down the victim’s jeans, but she was able to successfully fight him off as bystanders came rushing to her aid. Jones was ultimately detained after some bystanders chased him down as he tried to flee the scene.

“I didn’t do anything, it was her fault,” Jones said.

While hearing the case, Judge Pardeep Tiwana told Jones, “You physically restrained her despite her screams for help and telling you to stop, you persisted.” Tiwana added that it was a “brazen and opportunistic” attack against a complete stranger.

During the trial, it was revealed that Jones had a prior record for sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl in Germany, for which Jones served six years in a male prison there prior to being deported to Australia in 2018.

Jones denied accountability for the attack, but was sentenced to three years and three months, and was placed in a women’s prison to serve his sentence in July of 2022. Within weeks, female inmates at the Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre launched a petition to have him removed out of fears for their own safety.

According to the petition, many women prisoners have been victims of sexual assault and as a result, many “carry significant trauma associated with this experience.”

The petitioners said they have no prejudices against transgender individuals but were concerned for their safety, as Jones was said to have a “working” penis in addition to his history of violent sexual assault. Upon learning of Jones’ transfer, “the mental well-being of many of the women was severely compromised. They became visibly upset as they were triggered and traumatised.”

They addressed the Minister for Corrections, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Corrections Victoria and the Ombudsman when asking for the matter to be handled swiftly.

“We feel threatened, unsafe, distressed and traumatised with this current situation. Accordingly, we demand that (the inmate) be immediately removed from the Murray unit,” the petition read. “We consider this petition a matter of urgency and would therefore appreciate your prompt response.”

However, the female inmates’ protest was ignored by lawmakers and authorities. While it is unclear how many trans-identified male transfers are currently housed at Dame Phyllis Frost, Reduxx has reported on another sex offender who is serving a shockingly lenient 4-year sentence there for creating horrific child sexual abuse material of his own child and distributing it to a pedophile lover.

Autumn Tulip Harper, who was anonymized in court records as “Hilary Maloney,” was in a BDSM-inspired relationship with the sex offender, who he referred to as his “Master.” The American offender encouraged Harper to sexually abuse his daughter for his own gratification, and praised him for doing so, calling him a “good girl,” and saying how “impressed” with him he was.

According to Australian police, Harper created at least 77 files that were identified as child sexual abuse material between May and June of that year, after his devices were seized in a raid on September 15, 2023. The images of his daughter, who he had abused on at least 19 separate occasions, were sent to the American pedophile over Discord, which has gained a reputation for allowing the grooming of children in various chat rooms on its platform.

During the trial, Dr. Rajan Darjee, a forensic psychiatrist, framed Harper as if he were a “female” who had been “pressured” into the offending by a sinister male pedophile. Darjee claimed Harper had no sexual attraction to children, and would not need any “specific interventions to prevent further sexual offending.”

The judge in the case, Nola Karapanagiotidis, allowed Harper’s supposed experience with “gender dysphoria” and “transphobia” to serve as mitigating factors, and accepted the argument from the defense that he had abused his own daughter solely to be “validated… as a woman and a sexual person.” The four year and nine month sentence handed out was a significant reduction from the potential maximum of 25 years, with an ability for parole after just two years and six months. Following his conviction, Harper was placed in the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a women’s correctional facility.

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