A social media personality boasting over 34,000 fans on the social media platform TikTok has pleaded guilty in an Adelaide court to a range of child sexual abuse charges.
Presenting himself online as a “proud transgender woman,” Rachel Queen Burton who is 44 and resides in Coolalinga, Northern Territory, committed repeated acts of sexual abuse upon two young children and inflicted emotional trauma on another.
The Adelaide Advertiser reported various offences were committed by Mr. Burton in regional South Australia in 2019 before he became well-known on TikTok. He was arrested and charged with child abuse and exploration offences in October 2022.
Mr. Burton initially denied the allegations, before pleading guilty at a later hearing to aggravated counts of producing and possessing child exploitation material, gross indecency, and indecent assault.
After offending, Mr. Burton began identifying as female and built a substantial following on TikTok on the back of videos that focused on travel and cosmetic appearance, and trumpeted his pivot into the transgender community.
‘Gross, Phony,’ Court Hears
On Feb. 6, In the Adelaide District Court, the two child victims, an older sibling and their mother read out impact statements that detailed the depravity of Mr. Burton’s offending. Throughout the statements, Mr. Burton was often seen in tears as he watched on via a video link from a men’s prison.
“You are a gross, phony, self-indulgent thing who has cheated my children out of so much, and took it away from them without care,” the children’s mother said.
The court heard of the “relentless” fear and psychological torment inflicted by Mr. Burton which led to all the victims experiencing ongoing nightmares.
The younger victim’s statement illustrated their sense of anger and being trapped, while the older sibling suffered emotional trauma despite not being directly sexually abused.
“In your online rants, you showed no remorse for your bad behaviour, all while knowing what you had done ... getting an audience for your false life was far more important,” said the children’s mother.
“You can wear any mask you like, but the truth is out and everybody knows who you are, finally.”
The mother also recalled being found by Mr. Burton in a police-issued safe house where he “showed up at the window, peering in,” causing the family to flee again and fall into temporary homelessness.
“No food, scared children, too scared to go anywhere, never knowing if you could find us ... when the children did sleep, nightmares haunted them,” she said.
“Being homeless was extremely gruelling, the worrying was relentless, but you were online having the time of your life.”
The older brother described Mr. Burton’s offending as “repulsive, filthy, and vile,” and said he was “always worried you are going to turn up somewhere, and this makes me feel terrified.”
Judge Rauf Soulio thanked the family for their statements and the trial was concluded.
Mr. Burton was remanded in custody until further sentencing submissions in April.
