A trans-identified man who repeatedly mocked women critical of gender identity ideology online and advocated against female-only rape crisis centers has been sentenced to six and a half years after being found guilty of rape. Alexander Secker, 35, who uses the alias Lexi Bowen, began identifying as woman in the period between the assault and his court hearings but will carry out his sentence in a male prison.
Throughout court proceedings, barristers and the trial judge addressed the rapist as “Ms. Secker” and referred to him with feminine pronouns. But, during sentencing, Judge Jason Taylor KC told Secker: “At the time of this offense, you were a man. You identified as a man and you were, on the evidence, clearly attracted to women.”
In reporting on the conviction, taxpayer-funded media the BBC followed suit, with a headline describing Secker as a “trans woman” while using a photo that depicts him with a full beard.
The assault is said to have taken place in Blunsdon, Wiltshire, on April 23, 2021. The victim, whose identity has been withheld to protect her privacy, had been drinking during a night out with Secker and was said to have been “significantly affected by alcohol.”
Though Secker’s defense claimed in court that the sexual encounter was mutually consensual, the judge disagreed, saying that Secker was “focused on your own sexual gratification”.
“You suggested you take her for a walk under the pretense of sobering up. You took her to a secluded spot in the woods. You were able to exercise judgment, make rational choices and understood the nature and consequences of your actions,” Judge Taylor asserted. “You were not disinhibited at the time by your conditions. There is no evidence they were as present and compelling as they are now.”
A rapist who began identifying as transgender after his arrest had his identity obscured by British news outlets, which referred to him as a woman named "Lexi."
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) July 3, 2024
The man is in fact a father of two who claims to have "regularly" appeared on BBC Wiltshire.https://t.co/pUnZn2X6xx
A personal impact statement read by the victim in court described how she had been left traumatized by the sexual abuse and had been experiencing ongoing “unbearable anxiety, shame and fear.” She referred to Secker as simply “Alex,” rather than using his “preferred” name.
“He took away my trust in people and myself. The assault consumed me with shame and fear.”
Wiltshire Police Detective Constable Corrina Wiltshire thanked the victim for appearing in court no the day of her rapist’s sentencing, calling her “inspirational,” and added, “I hope this sentence gives other victims the strength to come forward and help police seek justice for them.”
“This case has taken a long time to get to this point, but I’m pleased to say the victim has trusted the police throughout and stayed with this despite the hurdles.”
Upon his arrest, Wiltshire Police referred to Secker as a “person convicted of rape,” adding that he was recorded as a male by police but “tried as a woman” in court.
🚨UPDATE🚨
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) July 5, 2024
A transgender rapist whose identity was obscured by British news outlets had been obsessed with JK Rowling in the period leading up to his conviction.
Alexander "Lexi" Secker labeled women critical of gender ideology "nazis" and "bigots."https://t.co/XT7ecbrP2T
As previously reported by Reduxx, prior to his transition Secker had been known as an “award-winning filmmaker” and a father of two. Secker had also been a Creative Media Practitioner at Digital Writes – a registered charity which receives funding from the UK Arts Council and describes itself as “enriching creative experiences” for youth.
Reduxx uncovered social media profiles belonging to Secker which demonstrate that he actively mocked and harassed women critical of gender ideology. He appears to have adopted the name “Lexi Bowen” following his transition with the intention of launching his career as a film critic and YouTuber.
He uploaded his first “video essay” in April of 2023 in which he discussed the iconic Hitchcock thriller Psycho. Confusingly, the video begins with clips of Harry Potter author JK Rowling giving a speech on artistic freedom. Secker goes on to sarcastically praise Rowling, highlighting her successes, before abruptly stating: “Anyway, let’s talk abut Psycho.”
Secker goes on to largely condemn the film, accusing it of having a “problematic legacy” and paving the way for “trans-coded killers in movies.”
Many of Secker’s video essays were centered around condemning classic horror films which played on the tropes of crossdressing villains. One of his other uploads focused on The Silence of the Lambs, slamming it as having a transphobic legacy.
“In recent years, people have started to acknowledge the harm it has done to the transgender community … Regardless of where you sit on the issue of the ‘legitimacy’ of their transness, Buffalo Bill is a trans character and that creates an issue,” Secker says in the video. “And as a transgender woman I can confirm that the film had a negative impact on me and who I am.”
Reduxx also found a defunct blog belonging to Secker in which he claimed he appeared “regularly” on BBC Wiltshire to discuss films.
On X, formerly Twitter, Secker has multiple viral posts in which he condemns women critical of gender ideology. One such post, which racked up over 5,000 ‘likes,’ was made on May 14, in which Secker speculated that “Rowling has pushed her hate too far.”
In May 2024, leading up to his conviction and sentencing for rape, Secker condemned renowned author JK Rowling for her stance condemning Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre’s policy of allowing men to self-identify as women in order to gain access traumatized female victims of sexual abuse.
Rowling had shared her criticism of a statement put out by the Crisis Centre’s Board of Directors responding to a tribunal which had concluded that the needs of survivors were not being prioritized. Trans-identified male CEO Wridul Wadwha stepped down from his leadership position four months later.
Secker seemed to have a particular animus towards those who wanted to end the medical transitioning of minors, accusing those opposed as having “blood” on their hands.
“What we need to understand is that while they may claim they’re protecting women and girls, while they may clutch their pearls and scream about how someone needs to think of the children, while they might use words like ‘mutilation’ and ‘brainwashing’ and ‘irreparable harm’, absolutely none of it, not a single letter, means anything close to what they really want. For the cult of the gender-critical, the only acceptable result is the complete and total eradication of trans people,” Secker wrote in March.
On Medium, where he described himself as a “trans girl horror fan,” Secker obsessively wrote hit pieces on high-profile gender critical figures, including comedy writer Graham Linehan, Labour MP Rosie Duffield, JK Rowling, and NHS researcher Dr. Hillary Cass. On X, he harassed many of the same individuals, in addition to Member of Parliament and former and Minister for Women and Equalities, Kemi Badenoch, and Baroness Sarah Ludford of the House of Lords. He also targeted notable women’s rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as Posie Parker, whom he labeled a “Nazi”.
“Is Dr. Hilary Cass a TERF? I don’t know. I don’t really care. In fact, it doesn’t really matter. The simple truth is that, regardless of her views on trans people, I don’t have a particularly high opinion of the woman, and she seems to be determined to ensure that it keeps plummeting,” Secker wrote.
His last post on Medium was made on June 9, just one month before he would be convicted of rape.
Titled “Rosie Duffield is a transphobic bigot,” he condemned both the Labour MP and TV writer Graham Linehan. “In 2023, Duffield liked a tweet from the transphobic abuser and former comedy writer Graham Linehan that appeared to include Holocaust revisionism, denying that trans people and gay people were targets of the Nazis,” Secker wrote. “She also appeared on Linehan’s podcast and claimed, falsely, that trans children were being allowed to ‘cut your body parts off and render them completely infertile.’”
Baroness Sarah Ludford of the House of Lords in April remarked on the need for preserving women’s single-sex spaces and services. “I don’t think either political fortunes or history will – in the end – be kind to politicians who ignored / rubbished / dismissed the needs & wishes of biological women who – while fully respecting fairness to transgender people – wanted their sex-based rights recognised & guaranteed,” Ludford said on X.
“I honestly would not have believed when I was 23 if someone told me that when I was 73 would be the worst time in my life for a woman to be a woman,” she added.
Secker responded, “Sometimes nostalgia makes you yearn for a time when a man could legally rape their wife, apparently.”
On Bluesky, Secker called Rowling a “shallow, insecure pleb who mistook success for intelligence”. In a rant targeting Rosie Duffield, he called on supporters to “condemn transphobia” and said that those who do not are his “enemy”.
“You’re making my life more dangerous and I hate you. I’m not a bargaining chip you get to overlook because you hate the Tories. F-ck you,” he continued.
Curiously, Secker also complained that the sharing of photos of him “prior to my transition” could be “traumatizing” to him.
“I overcompensated before I came out and presented [very] masculine. It’s horrible. I hate myself then and I don’t need to be reminded of it,” he wrote.
The convicted sex offender has also claimed to be the victim of rape by a female perpetrator. “No one denies male violence against women is a problem, but, look… I have been the victim of phyisical/sexual assault, BEFORE I was out, by women,” Secker wrote in April 2023.
At the beginning of June last year, only weeks before Secker was convicted of the sexual assault, he revealed that he has written to his MP Michelle Donelan to “explain what restricting the definition of sex/gender to mean ‘biological sex’ would achieve” in regards to alterations to the Equality Act put forward by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which defend women’s sex-based rights, including the right to single-sex facilities and services.
Responding to news of Secker’s conviction, Rowling took to X to slam The Scottish Sun‘s wording when reporting on the conviction. While the news outlet stated that the rapist was “now identifying as a woman,” Rowling hit back: “He never stopped being a man. He has always been a member of the sex that commits 98% of all sexual crimes.”