Biological male accused of DV against partner jailed in Bandyup Women’s Prison courtesy of gender transition

A biological male accused of domestic violence against a female partner was jailed in a women’s prison courtesy of a gender transition. Prison bosses were blindsided when the inmate, who has not undergone so-called gender affirmation surgery and still has male genitals, produced a birth certificate that stated the accused was female. The alleged spouse abuser had officially changed sex — which since last year can happen in WA — without the requirement for surgery. The inmate, who has since been granted bail and is awaiting trial, was sent to Bandyup Women’s Prison after the arrest last year. The accused was segregated from the general population because the prospect of a person with a penis housed in an all-female environment was considered too disruptive. If found guilty, the accused will serve the term at a female prison. “Safety is my number one priority and any prisoner who hasn’t undergone gender-affirming surgery will be isolated from the general population,” Correctives Services Minister Paul Papalia said. “The Department of Justice has a policy to manage transgender prisoners, which protects the welfare and rights of the prisoner and others in the custodial environment.” It’s understood the Department of Justice is considering building a separate facility to accommodate trans inmates. The Department of Justice said it would not comment on individual cases before the courts but noted that “the security of prisons and safety of staff and prisoners is always the paramount consideration”. “The management of any transgender prisoner who has not undergone gender-affirming surgery will be decided upon by the Corrective Services Commissioner and Corrective Services Minister,” the spokesperson said. Prison officers familiar with the case say the Department has done a good job of managing a most unusual situation. The special attention required for the prisoner is a headache at a time when jails are rammed with inmates. News of the transgender controversy at Bandyup came as the Victorian Government compensated a female prisoner who was sexually assaulted by a transgender killer locked up in a women’s jail. Murderer Clinton Rintoull, who has since changed names, was sentenced to 20 years. The prisoner was moved to Tarrengower female prison, a minimum security facility, after transitioning. The assault occurred in 2022. The payout is the latest trans controversy to dog the the Victorian Government. The State’s justice system was plunged into confusion last year when it emerged that a father who sexually abused his five-year-old daughter was being held in a women’s jail because he identified as a woman. Premier Jacinta Allan stared down demands from women’s groups to have the pedophile moved to a male prison. The inmate, who was anonymised as Hilary Maloney, was charged after he agreed to abuse his daughter on camera for the gratification of an American paedophile. Maloney’s tenure in the Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre was revealed on the Reduxx women’s rights website in September. More than 12,000 people have signed a Women’s Forum Australia petition to have him transferred to a men’s prison. In 2022 Victorian prison bosses refused to remove a male sex offender from the Dame Phyllis Frost facility despite his conviction for serious offences against women and children. Melbourne’s policy is at odds with Northern Territory’s, where prisoners born male are sent to men’s prisons regardless of their contemporary gender status. In October, Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro banned trans women being placed in women’s jails. “There should be no men in women’s prisons, full stop,” Ms Finocchiaro said. “I can tell you now, here in the Northern Territory there are no blokes in women’s jails and we’re not having that here, not on my watch.” Her hardline stance came in the wake of revelations a female prisoner had been sexually assaulted by a transgender inmate. Drug trafficker, pimp and hitman Leslie Graham Richards, who was convicted of the attempted murder of an Adelaide bikie kingpin, had been placed in a women’s prison in Port Augusta Women’s Prison after transitioning to female. Now known as Krista Richards, the violent criminal had gender-reassignment surgery in the 1990s.