‘You’re a man!’

A fantasist who posed as a woman on dating apps to lure unwitting men into donning a blindfold and having sex with him is facing years behind bars.

Depraved Duarte Xavier, 34, trawled lonely hearts sites masquerading as ‘Ana’, chatting to scores of straight men who were sent saucy photos fooling them into falling for his online persona.

When they agreed to meet up, ‘Ana’ set a series of conditions they had to abide by, including a stipulation that they wear a blindfold throughout the liaison.

Xavier’s first victim, a 45-year-old man, agreed to a hook-up at Ana’s flat on 17 February 2016 and obligingly covered his eyes once he set foot in the bedroom.

He realised something was wrong when they began having sex and was horrified when he whipped off the blindfold and saw Xavier.

The enraged victim stormed out and later received a text from Xavier reading: ‘I got as mental health problem, sorry.’

On 15 October 2017, a 29-year-old man messaged ‘Ana’, who told him ‘she’ was a recently single female ‘looking for a bit of fun’.

The pair traded flirty messages over WhatsApp and the oblivious victim arranged to meet for sex in a Wandsworth flat hours after they chatted in a video call.

When he arrived he heard what he thought was a female voice saying: ‘Stay there, don’t take off and don’t move the mask.’

Someone then crept up behind him and pulled the blindfold tighter, Kingston Crown Court heard.

He was led into another room where ‘Ana’ began performing a sex act but the brief encounter ended with disgust when he too removed the face covering.

Xavier sent a series of messages to his victims pleading a misunderstanding, but continued to pester him for oral sex.

That victim reported the incident to police and Xavier was arrested on 16 October 2017 on suspicion of causing sexual activity with a person without consent.

But he was released under investigation.

A number of mobile phones and masks were also seized.

The third incident took place on 4 April this year when ’35-year-old Ana’ lured another man to her darkened flat where she claimed to be concealing her identity so as not to tip off her husband to the fact she was having an affair.

As the victim went upstairs, he felt a person grab him and pull his trousers down and throw a pillow case over his head.

He asked for confirmation the person he had been talking to was really a woman but ‘Ana’ told him ‘no’ and began performing a sex act.

But the suspicious date used his phone torch to check and was so horrified he marched straight out to call the police.

Xavier was again arrested, this time on suspicion of sexual assault and later charged with two counts of causing a male aged 13 or over in a penetrative sexual activity and sexual assault.

He was remanded and later bailed at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

His fourth victim was only identified by police after reviewing phone records from seized mobile phones.

The 29-year-old had been too humiliated to tell anyone of the encounter.

Following their introduction in December 2016, ‘Ana’ explained that she was looking for a ‘role play’ experience where the victim would be blindfolded.

Both parties exchanged pictures and videos and agreed to meet at ‘Ana’s’ address before she claimed her landlady would be home and they must meet elsewhere.

‘Ana’ told the victim they would meet in King George’s Park, in Wandsworth, at around 7pm on 5 December.

Despite chatting in a video call and phoning to check he was heading the right way, the man had no reason to suspect ‘Ana’ was actually a man.

He went to the agreed spot, a secluded area, when ‘Ana’ arrived and performed a sexual act on him before they had sex.

‘Ana’ then left and the victim remained entirely unaware he had just had sex with Xavier.

WhatsApp records of conversations between the pair revealed that the victim had not realized what had happened and at no point did Xavier reveal his true identity.

As a result, the pair arranged to meet again a few days later, on the same terms and same place.

This time the victim held off on putting on the blindfold, curious as to who he was meeting.

As Xavier approached, the pair saw each other and Xavier tried to hide.

When the victim asked what he was doing, Xavier claimed to have believed that the victim was bisexual and approved of the arrangement.

?The victim was distraught by the revelation.

Xavier offered to pay his cab fare home, to which the victim said no and that he did not want to be contacted by him ever again.

The defendant, of Wandsworth, of south London, was convicted of six counts of causing a male aged 13 or over to engage in penetrative sexual activity.

Detective Constable Lucy Marsh, of Wandsworth police, said: ‘The crimes Xavier committed are unique in their depravity; all of the victims had no reason to believe that they were not engaging with a woman and all have stated unequivocally that they would never have given their consent to sexual relations with another man.

‘Xavier has demonstrated extreme manipulation and cunning in order to satisfy his own sexual gratification, setting bizarre conditions that the victims adhered to in the belief that they were part of the experience.

‘He is a sexual predator and I hope the victims, all of whom were traumatised by their experiences, will now feel that they have achieved some justice.

‘I thank them for their bravery not only in telling us of their ordeals, but in facing difficult and challenging questions throughout the judicial process.

‘We are also entirely aware that there may be other potential victims of Xavier who, so far, have also felt too ashamed to speak to police.

‘I would ask those people to come forward, to tell us, and we will treat you with the utmost sensitivity and in the strictest of confidence.’

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