A transgender woman who repeatedly made false rape allegations against innocent men during a seven-year period has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years. Khloe Simmonds, 26, made 12 fabricated allegations involving six men, resulting in extensive police investigations and devastating consequences for those she accused. At one stage, allegations made by Simmonds accounted for 2.5% of all reports of rape and serious sexual assault in Harrow. She was convicted of eight counts of perverting the course of justice. The court heard that one man remained under investigation for 88 days after Simmonds falsely accused him of rape. The allegation had a severe impact on him, and he attempted to take his own life. He later described the experience as having “destroyed my life”. Simmonds’ false allegations stretched back to 2018. In one case, she claimed a man had dragged her into Hendon Park and raped her, but the allegation was subsequently disproved. Another man, an Afghan national, was accused of raping her at knifepoint. The allegation resulted in him being rejected by members of his family and he later attempted suicide. Simmonds also accused a chef she met through Grindr of drugging and raping her. Police found no evidence supporting the allegation, while the man maintained that he had left after the pair hugged. In another case, she alleged she had been raped by a taxi driver inside his moving vehicle. Investigators examined the vehicle’s black-box data, which contradicted her account. The court heard that Simmonds later admitted she had been drinking, had lied and had failed to follow police instructions concerning the preservation of potential evidence. By 2022, her contact with police had escalated significantly, with dozens of calls being made on some nights. On one occasion, she contacted police 27 times in a single evening. Her final false allegation, made in January, ultimately led investigators to uncover the wider pattern of fabricated claims. Judge John Lodge described Simmonds’ offending as a “sustained pattern” and said some of the allegations involved an “element of sophistication”. The judge said her actions caused serious and distressing consequences for the men falsely accused, consumed substantial police resources and diverted officers away from genuine victims of sexual violence. Her barrister told the court that Simmonds had autism, ADHD and alcohol dependency, and compared aspects of her behaviour with that of convicted fantasist Carl Beech. Simmonds herself told police that difficulties surrounding her mental health and transition were “no excuse” for what she had done. She was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for eight counts of perverting the course of justice.

Originally published by UKNIP.