Woman tricked girlfriend into thinking she was having sex with man, court hears

A female victim has accused a woman of tricking her into having sex with her as she posed as a man during a two-year relationship.

Due to legal reasons, the victim - who cannot be named - claims she had 'sexual intercourse' twice with the 'man' and even planned to marry 'him'.

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Blade Silvano is accused of a 'sophisticated' scam by tricking the woman into believing she was a male.

The 40-year-old, of Bishop's Castle, is now on trial at at Cambridge Crown Court and denies two counts of assault by penetration.

The pair met online in late 2016, after Silvano updated their status on a dating site as a 'man looking for a woman'.

They met in person in December of that year.

After eventually deciding to get married, their wedding was postponed due to the defendant's supposed 'illness'.

And then two years later, the defendant claimed she discovered Silvano's true identity on Facebook in September 2018.

Silvano denies all accusations.

Throughout the defendant's testimony, the woman continued to refer to Silvano as a 'man', saying: "I've only known Blade as a man."

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The court heard they had first met on dating site Plenty of Fish in 2016, and the alleged victim denied she had identified herself as 'bisexual' on her profile, or that she had any sexual interest in women at the time.

Defence barrister, Debra White, asked her: "Did you tell her your sexual fantasy was to have sex with a woman?" and she responded with 'no'.

White argued the name Mendez was also 'part of a fantasy that was created by the two of you' and was chosen because it was the 'surname of a football player'.

She said: "It wasn't a real relationship. It was an opportunity to explore another part of her character. The communication was roleplay fantasy?"

The alleged victim responded: "It felt very real when emotions got involved, I was not acting on my behalf."

The trial also heard details of their wedding preparations, which the defence again argued was all part of their roleplay.

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White added: "During your relationship, you told police there was talk of marriage.

"That was again all part and parcel of the fantasy between the two of you. It wasn't real, was it? The discussion was a fantasy, an escapism?

"You were making arrangements to marry someone that you say you had only seen on a handful of occasions?"

The alleged victim responded: "It was Blade that asked me to marry him. Based on him asking me we made arrangements."

The defence barrister continued: "Because you have never met in the flesh and she has never been to your house. All communications were via a mobile device.

"Had you met in the flesh, you would have known that Blade Silvano was a woman."

The alleged victim responded: "That is incorrect. I've only known Blade as a man."

Silvano's true identity was uncovered in September 2018 when her contacts synced on a new Facebook account and came up with a different surname for the defendant.

The trial is currently ongoing.