A convicted child sex offender in Minnesota who legally changed their gender while incarcerated is accused of exposing herself to a female inmate.
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According to a report by Reduxx, transgender inmate Danielle Marie Whitebird was transferred to the state’s only women’s prison after filing a human rights complaint in February 2023.
Whitebird, 38, admitted in the complaint that she had not undergone any surgeries and claimed to have experienced “gender dysphoria” while incarcerated at a men’s jail. She also asked to have her name and legal documents changed from Daniel Patrick Benz.
Whitebird officially changed her name in June 2023, the report said. The state quietly allowed her transfer to the women’s prison by the end of 2023, where Whitebird stayed until being moved to another institution in September.
A female inmate and a former victim of sex trafficking, who spoke to women’s prison advocate Rebeca Warmbo, said she filed a complaint to prison officials alleging Whitebird exposed herself by showing her penis.
“I was terrified,” the inmate only named Cate said, adding that “nothing was done” by officials and “everyone turned their cheek.”
Cate believes her complaint was ignored because it was likely viewed by officials as “homophobic” or bigoted.
“We just want to be protected here and not abused or taken advantage of,” Cate added. “Most of us come from a background of abuse and we shouldn’t allow it here. We should be safe and protected, but they are allowing abusers in.”
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Whitebird was convicted of criminal sexual misconduct with a victim under the age of 13 in 2007.
Police in Eveleth, located in the state’s northeast, investigated a tip about the sexual abuse of a minor at the time.
Cops received a text message that alleged Whitebird had “played a game of touch the peanuts” with a six-year-old girl.
The tipster said the child, who was acting strangely for two weeks, told them that “Dan” had molested her multiple times.
“One night when her mommies went to pick up her daddy, she was with Dan at her house,” the 2007 complaint reads. “They were sitting together watching a movie … [The girl] stated that Dan reached with his hand and went inside of the left leg of her pajama pants. He then put his hand inside her panties and touched her on top of her vagina.”
Whitebird, known as Benz at the time, was imprisoned but eventually released a few years later as court records obtained by Reduxx indicate that she has been charged with a variety of offences under her old name since 2012.