Woman convicted of second sexual assault after impersonating male partner

Blade Silvano, a 44-year-old woman currently serving a prison sentence for sexual assault, has been found guilty of tricking another woman into a similar abusive partnership. In both instances, Silvano met her victims on online dating platforms and falsely presented herself as a man with military service experience before meeting them in person and committing sexual assaults.

The latest verdict was reached by a jury at Caernarfon crown court in north Wales on Tuesday. The court heard that Silvano was found guilty of six counts of sexual assault by penetration. These offences occurred between November 2022 and June of the following year, during which she allegedly used the same deceptive tactics on a new victim.

Under the alias Hunter, Silvano began communicating with the second victim through the Plenty of Fish dating site. When they met for sexual encounters, Silvano kept the lighting very low and prevented the victim from touching her intimately. She claimed to be a captain and surgeon in the army, further cementing the illusion of her male persona.

During one of the encounters, Silvano told the victim that her condom had broken. She assured the woman that pregnancy was very unlikely and stated, Trust me, I'm a doctor. The jury was informed that the victim began to suspect the deception after noticing that her partner sounded a little feminine and found their sex life odd.

The deception was ultimately revealed when the victim received a phone call from Silvano's long-term female partner. During the call, the woman informed the victim that the person she had known as Hunter was actually female. The victim told police that she felt sick upon learning the truth and remarked that she thought it was some sort of joke. In court, she explained that she believed she was in a relationship with a straight, heterosexual man and would never have gone out with a woman otherwise.

Prosecutor Philip Clemo described Silvano as a gifted con artist to the jury. He suggested that her method of deception may have been inspired by the myth of Zeus turning into a bull. This is not the first time Silvano has been convicted for this specific type of fraud.

In a previous case involving offences in Cambridgeshire between 2016 and 2017, Silvano used the fake name Blade Mendez to present herself as a male army veteran to a different woman. Over a two-year relationship, she sent the victim photos of herself apparently shaving her face and pretended to urinate while standing. She also claimed to be body conscious due to army injuries to avoid being touched in intimate areas.

That first victim and Silvano even became engaged. The woman was encouraged to try on wedding dresses and book a registrar. The deception ended in September 2018 when the victim accidentally found Silvano on Facebook and saw her in a completely different living situation. Silvano was subsequently jailed in Cambridge in 2023 after being found guilty of two counts of assault by penetration in that case.

Silvano, who is from Shropshire, will be sentenced for the six new sexual assaults next month. Judge Jones has ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared so that the risk she poses can be properly assessed before the final sentencing decision is made.