A pedophile who changed gender while in prison for sexually abusing his own daughter as a child and sending revealing pictures of himself to perverts online has been quietly released into the community – and given a laptop by a do-gooding charity.
Father-of-six Claire Fox, 61, formerly known as Clive Bundy, served just seven years of a 15-year sentence before settling in a small market town on the Welsh border.
Dressed in a black wig and floral dress, Fox told the neighbors, who knew nothing of her sordid past, that she was an electrician in Bangor as they helped her settle into her new surroundings and help her decorate her flat.
Fox’s release from prison shocked his daughter Ceri-Lee Galvin, who bravely waived her right to remain anonymous, having been abused by her father for nine years from the age of eight.
Expressing her surprise, Ceri-Lee, 24, told MailOnline: ‘My father is not a woman and I refuse to recognize him. She changed her gender in prison to make her life easier there.
Father-of-six Claire Fox, 61, formerly known as Clive Bundy, served just seven years of a 15-year sentence before settling in a small market town on the Welsh border.
While identifying as a man, the pedophile abused his own daughter and sent explicit photos of her to perverts online. He has now been quietly released into the community – and a well-to-do charity has given him a laptop
Ceri-Lee Galvin, 24, was shocked to hear that her father Clive Bundy, who sexually abused her as a child, now identifies as a woman and uses the name Claire Fox – after the MP of the same name – and is now a free woman.
‘But now he’s out and already up to his usual tactics – cheating on everyone he meets.
The fact that he is now dressed as a woman makes him even more dangerous because young girls are his thing and he has never regretted it.
‘My father is a very tactful man who has never attended a sex offender rehabilitation programme, has shown no remorse for what he has done and openly admits that children are attractive.
‘There have been no meetings that I am aware of to inform local schools of his presence, he has no tag and no curfew. He was just put into this community and given everything he wanted – food, furniture, a house and a laptop.’
Seri-Lee, now a student paramedic, added: ‘I’m not transphobic in any way and I feel incredibly sorry for people who have to make a real transition. Due to such cases they face stigma and worse.
‘But people convicted of sex crimes against children shouldn’t suddenly say they want to be a woman.
‘It only picked up in late 2021 when he was due to be moved to an open prison but then had a fight with a fellow inmate which was serious enough to halt the move.
‘That’s when he went for gender reassignment – when he was almost 60, had been a macho man all his life and fathered eight children and had never mentioned gender dysphoria before.
‘Now everyone is pampering him. The prison service gave him make-up and women’s clothing and now a charity for the armed forces supplied him with so much when he did a brief stint in the Territorial Army in the 20s.
Ceri-Lee Galvin, 24, was abused by Clive Bundy for nine years from the age of eight. Bundy was jailed for 15 years in 2016 but is now up for parole (Ceri-Lee Galvin with her father and siblings).
‘He dismissed them. He was never a soldier. The whole thing is offensive.’
Fox arrived in early June at a sheltered housing block for elderly people in a small town.
Armed forces charity SSAFA gave him new furniture, a television, printer, washing machine, crockery and a laptop because he was once in the Territorial Army.
Fox’s neighbor Lynne Robinson, 74, said: ‘My first impression was that this man was very cheerful and sympathetic, reassuring all of us elderly people that they wouldn’t be a problem. Despite their foreign appearance they seemed very confident.
‘I thought he might have a hard fit so I really looked after him. I gave him clothes and even lent him £70, which is a lot for a pensioner.
‘I took him to the food bank at the Baptist Church where he was given lots of goodies including vouchers for a butcher and coffee shop in town.
‘And we went to a concert at St Edward’s Church where I introduced him to the vicar. I had no idea about his history.
Fox’s decision to change gender before being released from prison sparked a storm of protest when it was revealed in April.
She chose the same name as the gender-critical campaigner and media pundit Claire Fox, now sitting in the House of Lords as Baroness Fox of Buckley.
Campaign groups fear that by changing their gender, sex offenders can effectively whitewash their past and avoid detection under the Home Office’s Disclosure and Barring Service, which is designed to protect children from abusers.
DBS uses official documents such as passports or driving licenses to check them, both of which can be difficult to check after choosing a new name and gender.
A potential loophole is provided by the Gender Recognition Act (2004), which created a ‘sensitive application route’ for trans people.
Seri-Lee added: ‘The victim liaison officer told me that the only reason I was informed about the name and gender change was because she allowed it to happen.
‘It allowed her to say that Clive Bundy never existed, that my abuse did not exist and that it was clearly a danger to children, so I decided to speak out.’
Fox is not the first sex offender to change gender while in prison.
Seri-Lee has bravely decided not to reveal her name as a sexual abuse victim to raise awareness of a ‘legal loophole’ that potentially allows sex offenders like her father to cover up their past by adopting a new gender identity.
A rapist who sexually assaulted a man named Adam Graham in 2016 and 2019 sparked a heated debate earlier this year after changing his gender and name to Isla Bryson while awaiting trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
And in 2018, convicted rapist ‘Karen White’ – described by a judge as a ‘highly manipulative’ predator – moved into HMP New Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and sexually assaulted two female inmates.
Fox was arrested after police discovered photos of Seri-Lee online that the abuser was trading with other pedophiles.
He was later charged and admitted to multiple counts of sexual activity with Seri-Lee, soliciting a child to engage in sexual activity and distributing indecent images.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2016. By the end of 2021, she had told authorities she wanted to change gender.
A spokesperson for SSAFA said: ‘SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity provides practical, emotional and financial support to personnel, conservators, veterans and their families in times of need. Due to data protection laws and our need to protect the privacy of our beneficiaries and employees, we cannot comment on individuals or their circumstances.’
A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesman said: ‘In accordance with national guidelines we cannot confirm or deny the information you provide.
‘However, we can ensure that multi-agency public protection arrangements are used across the force area to manage appropriate offenders living in the community and that they are closely supervised by local officers to minimize any risk.’