A convicted child sex offender is performing community outreach for an organization that advises incarcerated men on how to declare a transgender status and legally change their identification.
Xena Grandichelli, born Jeffrey Willsea, is a biological male who now identifies as a woman. In 1994, Grandichelli pleaded guilty to 11 counts of sexual abuse involving a 3 year-old girl and was designated a sexually violent offender. His sex offender registration categorizes him as a risk level 3, which denotes the highest recidivist risk and a threat to public safety. New York State law restricts level 3 sex offenders from being within 1,000 feet of a school.
Yet since his release from prison, Grandichelli has become a highly-regarded trans activist and has spoken at top-tier universities.
Notably, he has also partnered with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) and was designated as a Movement Building Team member. In a letter posted to the SRLP website, Grandichelli describes how team members from the organization actively worked to recruit him while he was still incarcerated for sexually abusing a child.
The SRLP has a pattern of overlooking the crimes of violent men who claim a transgender status. For instance, in 2014, the SRLP launched a petition to pressure New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to remove child rapist and killer Synthia China Blast from isolated confinement.
Blast, whose birth name is Luis Morales, repeatedly raped and brutally tortured Ebony Nicole Williams, a 13-year-old girl from Harlem. According to researcher Diana Shaw, “While he was dressed in a skirt, 22-year-old Mr. Blast carried and disposed of the young girl’s mutilated body in a Bronx underpass, and set the body on fire,” then proceeded to brag about the killing to friends.
As with Synthia China Blast, SRLP representative Grandichelli’s crime has been obscured by his self-declared transgender status. By claiming a female identity, Grandichelli has been afforded a platform by two of the most prestigious universities in the nation, and in 2017, he was presented with a Community Hero award by the Anti-Violence Project.
Source: Toddler Rapist Now Award-Winning Trans Rights Activist