Blade Silvano has been accused of a sophisticated scam (Picture: James Linsell-Clark/SWNS)

A woman was tricked into having sex during a two-year relationship with another woman who was pretending to be a man, a court heard.

The victim, who can’t be named for legal reasons, claimed she had ‘sexual intercourse’ twice with the ‘man’ and had even planned to marry ‘him’.

Blade Silvano, 40, has been accused of a ‘sophisticated’ scam by tricking the woman into believing she was male.

Prosecutors said the pair met online in late 2016 when Silvano had posted her status on Plenty of Fish as a ‘man looking for a woman’ and matched with the victim.

They first met in person in December that year and ‘kissed’ before going on to have ‘intercourse’ on two separate occasions, the jury was told.

But Michael Hillman, for the prosecution, said Silvano continued to hide her true identity by using an ‘unknown item’ to penetrate and always kept her t-shirt on and boxers on.

The shocked victim only discovered her ‘lover’s’ true gender through Facebook nearly two years later after they had postponed a planned wedding due to the defendant’s supposed ‘illness’, the trial heard.

Silvano, of Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire, is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court and denies two counts of assault by penetration.

Silvano is accused of committing a ‘sophisticated deception (Picture: James Linsell-Clark SWNS)

Giving evidence today, the complainant said the defendant had used the name Blade Mendez and told cops she had never consented to having a sexual relationship with a woman.

During cross examination, the alleged victim denied the whole relationship had all been part of a ‘roleplay’ and ‘fantasy’ between them.

She also referred to Silvano throughout her testimony as a ‘he’ and added: ‘I’ve only known Blade as a man.’

The victim denied claims put to her by defence barrister Debra White that she had never met the defendant ‘in the flesh’ and told the court their relationship had felt ‘real’.

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She denied she had identified herself as ‘bisexual’ on her profile or that she had any sexual interest in women at the time.

Ms White asked her: ‘Did you tell her your sexual fantasy was to have sex with a woman?’ and she responded with ‘no’.

The victim said the majority of their communication was via WhatsApp messages but they had also exchanged video calls.

When they were discussing sexual activity there were also ‘indications of roleplay, doctors and nurses, that kind of thing’.

But she said she believed Silvano when she told her she was a vet within the British Army and for her that was not a part of her fantasy.

The court heard on one occasion they had been due to go to an ‘officer’s dinner’ together but Silvano pulled out after telling her she had been ‘injured by a cow’.

The trial also heard details of their wedding preparations, which the defence again argued was all part of their roleplay.

Ms White added: ‘During your relationship, you told police there was talk of marriage.

‘You were making arrangements to marry someone that you say you had only seen on a handful of occasions?’

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The alleged victim responded: ‘It was Blade that asked me to marry him. Based on him asking me we made arrangements.’

The trial heard she had even gone to try on a wedding dress and sent a photo of it to Silvano.

Ms White added: ‘Isn’t it tradition that the person you are going to marry – they don’t see the dress until the morning of the wedding?

‘The reason you sent that photo was there was never going to be a wedding. The reason was all part and parcel of this roleplay between you and Ms Silvano.

‘Did you begin to believe this roleplay was real?’

The witness responded: ‘It was not a roleplay.’

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Ms White added: ‘Because you have never met in the flesh and she has never been to your house. All communications were via a mobile device.

‘Had you met in the flesh, you would have known that Blade Silvano was a woman.’

The alleged victim responded: ‘That is incorrect. I’ve only known Blade as a man.’

The court heard she only discovered Silvano’s true identity in September 2018 when her contacts synced on a new Facebook account and came up with a different surname for the defendant.

The alleged victim said she thought she was having full sexual intercourse with the defendant on a number of occasions – but was always ‘rebuffed’ when she tried to touch ‘his’ genitalia.

During her initial police interview, she said: ‘When we had sex, Blade would usually blindfold me and I was never allowed to look at the penetration occurring.

‘He would never allow me to go near his genital region and I never saw his penis.’

Giving evidence today, she ‘clarified’ to the jury he had only blindfolded her once.

The alleged victim said that during sexual contact they used sex toys that were kept in her bedroom drawer but said this was only ‘in-between us having sex.’

She said that on one of the occasions they had what she thought was sexual intercourse in February 2017 she was ‘blindfolded’ consensually.

Cross-examining the alleged victim, defence barrister Debra White said: ‘You said to police – I consented to having sex with sex toys thinking he was a male.

‘You described to the police Ms Silvano as wearing boxer shorts, and a t-shirt. You also say that you would move your hands all over Ms Silvano’s body..’

The alleged victim responded: ‘I explained the area I was able to move my hands freely, the side, his back, I was never able to put my hands underneath his clothes or down his boxers.

‘He would rebuff me every time I tried to make an advance, he would nudge me away.

‘He was using sex toys on me; it was not allowed the other way round.’

The trial heard she had told cops when she reported the alleged crime: ‘He told me he was a man and it was on that basis I agreed to have sex with him..’

Ms White asked her during cross examination: ‘But you would, at the very least if this had actually happened, have felt Ms Silvano’s breasts pressed against you?’

She responded: ‘There was nothing I could feel up and down the side to indicate that Blade was actually a female.’

She said she was ‘not exactly a small person’ and neither was the defendant so there was a ‘gap’ between their bodies during sex.

‘There were clothes in the way, his t-shirt and boxers,’ she added.

The court heard they used two sexual positions with Silvano on top and another with the defendant on her knees while the alleged victim was on top and being penetrated.

Ms White said: ‘If this really did happen, surely, in that position and if this person was a man, you would have noticed their erect penis?’

She responded: ‘There were no lights. I don’t know what Blade used.’

Silvano had asked the alleged victim to ‘name one of her dildos after her’ the court heard (Picture: James Linsell-Clark SWNS)

Ms White added: ‘You again explain to police you had moved your hands up and down Ms Silvano’s hips, back and could not feel what you describe as a strap on?’

She responded: ‘I questioned what it could have been. I did not explain it as a strap on.’

She was also quizzed on why she did not have any hair on ‘his’ legs if she was walking around in t-shirt and boxers as a ‘man would have’ but responded: ‘He did.’

The alleged victim said she first went to the police station in October 2018 to make a written statement but only recorded a video statement in January 2020.

The court also heard that during police interview she also described running her hands over ‘the side of his body, his bum and back area’ but was never ‘allowed’ to touch his genitals.

She told police she was not aware of any ejaculation despite sending messages to the defendant after they had sex stating: ‘I know how you enjoyed me. I have the evidence dribbling down.’

Speaking today, she told the court: ‘I was indicating to him he had ejaculated. I was stroking his ego making him feel better about the situation although he had made sounds and movement to indicate that he had.’

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She had also told cops in her statement: ‘He didn’t tell me he was female but he penetrated me with something – and I haven’t consented to it.’

She added: ‘He kept his clothes on, he blindfolded me. Nothing felt unnatural.’

The trial heard the alleged victim and Silvano had also exchanged sexual messages and pictures and Silvano had asked the alleged victim to ‘name one of her dildos after her.’

Ms White asked her: ‘Are you suggesting that during all of those times you had intimate sexual face to face physical contact with Blade Silvano that you did not suspect that Blade Silvano was a woman?’

She responded: ‘Exactly that.’

She denied that she was only in an ‘electronic relationship’ and it was finding out the defendant was already in another relationship that caused her to go to the police as an act of ‘revenge.’

She also told the court, the defendant she saw in court today was very different to the one she knew six years ago.

She added: ‘The person I knew six years ago had shorter hair, wore more masculine clothing. Her breasts were not evident as they are now. He is the same physical shape but the breasts were not evident.’

The trial, listed for five days, continues.

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The woman even asked her victim to ‘marry her’.