Gayle Newland, 25, befriended the victim by posing as a man on Facebook
Newland bound her chest and wore swimsuit to disguise her appearance
Couple had sex about 10 times before victim discovered her true identity
Newland was convicted of three counts of sexual assault at the victim's flat in Chester, Cheshire but cleared of two alleged incidents at hotels
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A 25-year-old woman who pretended to be a man to trick her female friend into having sex has been found guilty of three counts of sexual assault.
Gayle Newland befriended her victim by posing on Facebook as a man named 'Kye Fortune'.
Newland bound her chest and wore a woolly hat and swimsuit to disguise her appearance, telling the woman 'he' was self-conscious about 'his' appearance after hospital treatment.
Chester Crown Court heard how the victim, also 25, was made to wear a blindfold whenever she was with 'Kye', whom she dated for two years, including on the roughly 10 occasions the pair had sex.
The victim said she only discovered 'Kye's' true identity when she ripped off her blindfold during one meeting at her flat in Chester, Cheshire, and saw Newland wearing a prosthetic penis.
She earlier told the court that she was 'sickened' by the revelation and that 'at no time' did she consent to sex with the use of a prosthetic.
Newland, who has identified as a lesbian since primary school, denied the charges and told the court that she and the victim were engaging in role play and fantasy as they struggled to accept their sexuality.
Today Newland was found guilty of committing sexual assaults at the complainant's flat in Chester, Cheshire, but was cleared of similar offences said to have taken place at hotels in the city.
The defendant, from Willaston, Cheshire, sat in stunned silence as the foreman returned the verdicts.
During the trial, Newland admitted she had invented 'Kye' when she was 13 as a way to speak to girls. She later created 'his' Facebook profile, using photos taken from an American man's social media page.
But she said she had explained the fake profile to the defendant, who played along with her online persona.
The complainant spent 'hundreds' of hours talking on the telephone to 'Kye' and the couple, then both students at the University of Chester, spent more than 100 hours in each other's company.
Asked how they spent their time together, the complainant told the court they would sometimes watch a film while she was wearing a blindfold and on one occasion they went sunbathing.
The court also heard how the victim had agreed to follow 'rules' which included not touching 'Kye's' 'penis'.
The prosecution said it was an 'unusual' case set against an 'extraordinary background' in which the defendant targeted the 'naive and vulnerable' complainant.
But Newland's legal team said the complainant's account was simply 'impossible to believe'.
'Kye Fortune' sent the complainant a Facebook request in 2011 and the pair went on to speak frequently over the phone, the court heard.
As their relationship developed, the victim made a number of requests to meet in person, but 'Kye' dismissed each one with 'repeated excuses'.
'He' said 'he' had been involved in a car accident and later that 'he' had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.
'He' claimed 'he' was being treated in hospital and that 'he' was not well enough to meet.
'Kye' later 'introduced' the complainant to his 'best friend', Newland. The women later met up in person and became close friends.
'Kye' and Newland shared the same birth date, both liked RnB music and 'chick flicks' and both had a dog named Gypsy, the jury heard.Every time I met up with Kye Fortune I either had the mask on already or he would wait outside the door and I would put it on. I was so desperate to be loved. It's pathetic, so desperate for love, so desperate
The victim
The complainant and 'Kye' finally met in person in February 2013 - two months after 'he' had sent her an eternity ring in the post.
The complainant told the court: 'Every time I met up with Kye Fortune I either had the mask on already or he would wait outside the door and I would put it on.
'I was so desperate to be loved. It's pathetic, so desperate for love, so desperate.
'We were just lying there, just cuddling, sometimes we would watch films, sometimes we would just talk. It sounds stupid to say but it was a proper relationship, just normal.'
She went on: 'Since the first time I wrote to this person on Facebook, I thought it was a male.
'The first time I agreed to meet this person and agreed to have sex with them, I thought it was a male I told my my friends I was engaged to a guy. I told my work colleagues.'
During their telephone conversations, the complainant said she dismissed her 'boyfriend's' high-pitched voice as a result of his Filipino heritage.
She said she was not attracted to women and said, although it sounded 'sick', she would have preferred to be have been raped by a man because she could not rationalise it.
The jury heard that another woman said she had been duped by Newland into believing she was communicating with a man.
She said she added 'Kye' as a Facebook friend and an online relationship developed. They went on to communicate by phone and she noticed that 'his' voice was 'quite high pitched'.
The pair started off as friends but in time 'Kye' referred to her as his girlfriend, the court heard. She suggested to 'him' that that they meet up but said 'he' always came up with an excuse not to.
She used FaceTime on her phone to speak to 'him' but he would never show his face, she said. Another Facetime conversation involved 'Kye' said to be walking his dog, Gypsy.
The first time I agreed to meet this person and agreed to have sex with them, I thought it was a male I told my my friends I was engaged to a guy
The victim
The court heard that she only discovered she had been in contact with Newland and not 'Kye' when she spotted the same dog by chance on the defendant 's Facebook page.
She phoned Fortune's number, asked for Gayle and immediately recognised from her voice that 'Kye' and Gayle were one and the same.
The woman stated: 'I knew that Gayle Newland had pretended to be Kye Fortune. I hung up immediately. I felt stupid.'
Adjourning the case for pre-sentence reports, Judge Roger Dutton told the court that Newland had 'serious issues surrounding her personality'.
He said: 'You have been convicted of serious charges. You must understand the consequences may be serious.'
Newland shouted in response: 'How can you send me down for something I have not done?'
The judge said it would present a 'difficult sentencing exercise'.
Newland was bailed until sentencing on a date to be fixed in November. She was told she must not contact the complainant and not to contact anyone under an assumed identity.
The judge said Newland would be seen by the Probation Service and a psychiatrist as part of the pre-sentence report.
