Transgender sex offender put in women’s hostel

CONTROVERSY: Women’s group hits out at danger faced by ‘vulnerable’ residents

A transgender sex offender who targeted girls in supermarket toilets was living in a women-only hostel after her conviction.

Katie Dolatowski, 18, avoided a prison sentence for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in Morrisons, Kirkcaldy, and filming a 12-year-old over a cubicle in Asda, Dunfermline.

A women’s group has warned other female residents could have been put in danger by her presence in the supported accommodation, in Fife, which has a shared bathroom.

It is understood she was moved into her own accommodation shortly after The Courier discovered where she had been living.

One resident in the unit for homeless offenders said: “This is a women’s hostel and it’s all women who work here. I feel sick and can’t stop thinking about what (she) has done.”

A spokeswoman for Women and Girls in Scotland said: “Katie Dolatowski has already taken advantage of access to female spaces to commit sexual assault.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that this person was being given the same opportunity again.

“Female offenders are very likely to have experienced male violence and/or abuse, and many suffer from conditions such as PTSD.

“As such, the presence of males in spaces where they are vulnerable could understandably be very distressing for these women, and for many the presence of a male sex offender will prove to be unbearable.”

The Scottish Trans Alliance did not respond to a request for comment.

Dolatowski, who is on a curfew and electronically tagged, was deemed to pose a moderate risk of reoffending.

She was placed by Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on a three-year community payback order at the end of January.

Fife Council said it did not have a specific policy for housing transgender people but had a duty to accommodate offenders.

This, it said, was done in line with national policy and through the MultiAgency Public Protection Arrangement with police, NHS Fife and the Scottish Prison Service.

A spokesperson said: “Each situation is subject to individual consideration and specific assessment. In situations like these the assessment and planning is carefully undertaken on an interagency basis.”

To legally change gender, a person must acquire a gender recognition certificate after having lived in that gender for two years.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing its legislation on gender recognition, which could allow people to change gender by self-declaration.