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Transsexual alleged to have taken baby's identity

01 June 2006

A transsexual in the "final stages of her transformation" stole a
dead baby's identity so she could travel as a woman, a Christchurch
District Court judge heard today.

Despite a lawyer's plea to defer a jail sentence so Leilani
Sialapae, 27, would not be incarcerated in a men's prison, Judge
Phillip Moran said he could not be persuaded that a prison sentence
was inappropriate.

Sialapae pleaded guilty to 15 charges involving passport fraud,
using forged documents and misleading social welfare officers to
obtain benefits she was not entitled to, and one count of assault.

Sialapae, who appeared in court dressed as a woman with waist-length
black hair partly bleached, admitted using the identity of a baby
who died at the age of six months to apply for a passport so she
could travel overseas as a woman.

The child's name, which was suppressed, was taken from a headstone
in a cemetery.

Lawyer Leuatea Iosefa referred to his client as a female throughout
the sentencing and told Judge Moran Sialapae was a transsexual at
the "pre-operative stage" but legally a male.

Her attempts to gain a passport were to "avoid any embarrassment"
passing through Customs and the prospects of her application being
successful were "practically nil". Sialapae had gone to a lot of
trouble but her methods had not been sophisticated.

AdvertisementAdvertisementMr Iosefa said the social welfare fraud
amounted to only $6386, but he acknowledged Sialapae's actions had
potential to cause the ministry greater loss.

He told the court Sialapae had a long history of previous offending
which was the result of a "life ravaged by drug addiction, sex abuse
and prostitution". He accepted that she faced a prison sentence but
urged Judge Moran to defer it to allow Sialapae to complete
the "final stages of her transformation" and avoid having to be
placed in a male prison.

Judge Moran noted Sialapae's "determined and premeditated" criminal
activity was committed to coincide with her assumed female identity.

He said it was important to retain the integrity of New Zealand
passports and that they be regarded internationally as genuine, but
Sialapae's attempt to obtain a false passport was less serious in
the context that she just wanted to travel as a woman.

Notwithstanding the difficulties she would face in a men's prison,
the judge said, Sialapae's criminal history and previous convictions
for violence led him to believe she was capable of looking after
herself.

Judge Moran jailed her for a total 12 months on two social welfare
charges and imposed concurrent jail sentences on a number of other
counts. He granted her leave to apply for home detention, noting she
had strong family support, but said the "difficulty" of placing her
in a men's prison was "not enough" for him to defer the sentence.


© Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2006.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3686942a12855,00.html