A woman who posed as a teenage boy to sexually assault up to 50 teenage girls has been jailed.

Gemma Watts, from Pembroke Avenue, Enfield, has been jailed today (January 10) has been sentenced at Winchester Crown Court today (January 10) to eight years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty on November 28.

She was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and was made subject to a life-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Disguised with her long hair tied into a bun and wearing a baseball cap, baggy jogging bottoms and a hoodie, Watts convinced them she was 16-year-old "Jake Waton".

She used her own picture on Jake's Snapchat and Instagram accounts, targeting girls aged 14-16 by liking their profiles.

She would then swap messages with victims, including intimate photographs, using WhatsApp, Snapchat Instagram, or text, and speak over the phone before meeting them in person.

Enfield Independent:

Gemma Watts, 21, when she arrived at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire. (Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

Watts was so convincing that she even spent time as Jake with some of the girls' parents.

And all of Watts' victims believed they were in a relationship with a teenage boy until police revealed she was in fact an adult woman.

Detective Constable Phillipa Kenwright, who was the Met’s Sadeguarding Lead for the case, said: “Her arrest, and now lengthy prison sentence, has prevented her from targeting further victims, but I hope that it also gives reassurance to other victims of sexual exploitation that offenders will be brought to justice. I encourage them to come forward and speak to us.

“I am delighted with the sentence that the Judge has passed today and hope it acts as a warning to others intent on exploiting and manipulating children online, that they will be dealt with robustly.”

Watts first came to the attention of Hampshire police in March 2018 after a doctor raised concerns that a girl was in a relationship with an older boy.

The Met got involved in July that year after the defendant admitted she had been sexually active as Jake with the first three victims.

Officers executed a search warrant at Watts’ home address in July 2018 and arrested her for a number of serious sexual offences.

Enfield Independent:

Gemma Watts, 21, arrives at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire. (Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

She was released under investigation by the South East force but arrested again in October 2018 by BTP officers, who found her with the fourth girl, from the West Midlands, after the victim was reported missing by her parents.

In November 2018, officers from the Met obtained an interim Sexual Risk Order from Stratford Magistrates’ Court which allowed Watts to be closely monitored by officers to prevent her from re-offending until charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Hampshire.

A final Sexual Risk Order was obtained on 2 May 2019 and Watts was charged on 12 September 2019.

She pleaded guilty to:

  • Assault by penetration (Section 2 of the Sexual Offence Act 2003) – victim 1;
  • Sexual Assault, (Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 1;
  • Meeting a child following sexual grooming (Section 15 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 1;
  • Sexual Assault, (Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 2;
  • Meeting a child following sexual grooming (Section 15 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 2;
  • Meeting a child following sexual grooming (Section 15 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 3;
  • Sexual Assault, (Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) – victim 4.