A sex-offending pedophile whose victims were his children claims he's female to avoid male prison

LINCOLN, ILL- A male Illinois inmate who pretends to be a female to avoid being housed in a male facility where even inmates don’t take kindly to pedophiles had his wish granted when he was incarcerated in a women’s prison after being found guilty on multiple sexual assault counts upon children, Reduxx reports.

James Blessent, who goes by the name Michelle, is being held at the Logan Correctional Facility in Lincoln, Illinois. Blessent, 35, was originally arrested in April 2023 for five counts of predatory criminal sexual assault on a victim under 13 years old, as previously reported by Reduxx. 

 However in November of that same year, three additional charges were levied against Blessent, including an additional count of predatory criminal sexual assault on a victim under 13, one count of grooming, and an additional count of exploitation of a child. 

The Bloomington Police Department posted on their Facebook account that the three additional charges are related to the original victim. During the course of Blessent’s trial, a second child victim under the age of 13 was identified. Both of the victims are Blessent’s biological children–a boy and a girl, Reduxx said. 

When Blessent was arrested in April, a spokesperson for the Bloomington Police Department said Blessent was being treated as a woman due to his “gender identity.” 

“This is uncharted territory for the police department,” Officer Brandt Parsley told radio station Cities 92.9. Parsley confirmed Blessent had legally changed his name to Michelle according to McLean County Circuit Clerk documents reviewed by Reduxx. The records showed Blessent applied for the name change in July 2022 and completed the process in December of that year. 

When Blessent’s mugshot was released, community members became confused since he had been described as a “female.” Some of those commenting on the Bloomington Police Department’s Facebook post noted that Blessent was, in fact, male, and that describing him as something different was inaccurate. 

Some sensitive individuals (obviously leftists) objected to the police department not shutting off comments on the post, criticizing the agency for not censoring so-called “transphobic” remarks. 

“Of course the City of Bloomington-Police could turn off comments, but now they are going to allow insulting and transphobic comments to be made. They could choose to be better but they don’t.” So said a guy named Erik Anderson, who was apoplectic that the Bloomington PD didn’t censor its post. 

In June, Blessent was sentenced to 42 years in prison for each of two counts of predatory criminal assault of a victim under 13, as well as three years for a count of grooming. The sentences run consecutively and will total 87 years. Illinois law requires that Blessent serve at least 85% of the sentences for the sexual assault counts; in other words, he will not be eligible for parole until 2095 or when he turns a youthful 106 years old. 

Bloomington police released body camera footage of Blessent’s arrest two weeks ago, which shows him being approached by officers at his home. Blessent was wearing a short floral dress and officers (so as to not get sued, suspended, or both) referred to him in the feminine vernacular. 

Police Insider reported that according to Blessent, he told investigators that he couldn’t have sexually assaulted his children because estrogen made it difficult for him to maintain an erection. 

Reduxx wrote that “despite legally being male, and having an accurate sex marker in the Illinois Offender Directory,” Blessent was sent to the Logan Correctional Center for Women. 

Blessent isn’t the only gender-confused male sent to the Logan facility. In 2019, the state’s Department of Corrections approved the transfer of a male identifying as a female to a women’s prison after he claimed to be the victim of sexual harassment and abuse. Andre Patterson received his transfer with assistance from trans activists and various law firms and claimed he was suffering from PTSD after his initial housing in a men’s facility. 

Patterson had several convictions for felonies including second-degree murder, and was later accused of raping a female inmate at Logan, sexually harassing female inmates, and threatening staff members. 

The Department of Corrections attempted to move him back to the men’s prison, however calorically-challenged Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office overruled the decision, and Patterson was allowed to remain at Logan. Pritzker is the brother of “Jennifer” Pritzker, a trans-identified male billionaire who likes to spend his money on trans causes, Reduxx wrote. 

Patterson is projected to get out of jail in March 2054. 

Yet another trans-identifying male who had been briefly housed at Logan, Strawberry Hampton, real name unknown, was released in 2019. Hampton was serving a sentence for burglary and sued the Department of Corrections alleging discrimination and abuse while in custody. A federal judge later ordered prison staff to undergo training on transgender issues (propaganda).