Child-abusing TikTok star and ‘proud trans woman’ Rachel Queen Burton challenges sentence as victims’ mum, Helen, speaks out

A child-abusing TikTok star is returning to court – and the victims’ mother fears their family will never be able to escape the controlling “shapeshifter” pursuing them.

First her children were repeatedly sexually abused, then “Helen” and her family were stalked for years by the “shapeshifter” and “monster” responsible for those crimes.

While Helen and her children struggled to escape Rachel Queen Burton, the child abuser was earning praise on TikTok, where she broadcast her life as a “proud trans woman”.

“He was stalking us, hunting us … it felt like he was everywhere because that’s how he made it feel,” Helen told The Advertiser on Friday.

“He confronted us at a shopping centre and said ‘look what I’ve done for you’ … he’d gotten tattoos that were symbolic of my children, his victims.

“To me, he was trying to tell my children he owned them, that they were his property … it was just nauseating.”

Though jailed for her crimes, Burton has filed an appeal against her seven-year prison term, which will be heard early next month.

That appeal has prompted Helen to speak publicly, for the first time, about her family’s years-long ordeal at the hands of a predator obsessed with social media fame.

Helen said Burton’s claims in court – that the crimes arose from “severe gender dysphoria” – were “bullshit, incorrect” and unfair to the transgender community.

“Gender dysphoria didn’t make him a monster, because he was living as a man when he was a monster,” she said.

“I’m not anti-transgender, I just think he’s a phony who’s abusing that community to get exactly what he wants.

“He’s making this work for him so that he’s not accountable … he used to say ‘women get everything they want in the court system, no one gives a shit about the men’.

“He’s always been a shapeshifter, becoming what he has to become to benefit himself … what you see with him is never what you get … it’s just another act, another performance.

“He’s giving a really bad rap to transgender people and their issues … I do not think the transgender community would want him as a representative at all.”

RUINATION

One of Rachel Queen Burton’s social media posts. Picture: Tiktok

Burton, 47, pleaded guilty to aggravated counts of producing and possessing child exploitation material, gross indecency and indecent assault.

The offences occurred at various regional, remote and outback locations in 2019 against two victims.

On Friday, Helen said Burton – whom she knew as Richard – was controlling, manipulative and had sought to sever her bond with the children.

“He would tell the children they were better off without me, saying ‘mum is the ruination of fun’,” she said.

She and the children moved away to seek refuge but Burton followed, demanding the return of a laptop computer and two hard drives.

“I couldn’t understand why he wanted it back so badly … I accessed it and found photos of my children,” she said.

“You feel so much guilt and shame as a parent, and you regret so much … you just have no clue at the time but then you look back at past events and go ‘there it was’.

“I had only seen a bit of it, the point of the knife – then I got to see the whole blade.”

Helen said she tried to keep her children away from Burton while struggling to find help from local women’s services.

“You are relying on a system that’s supposed to help you, but it does more damage – it’s ill-equipped, it’s unprepared, it’s so lacking,” she said.

MANY FACES

Burton pleaded guilty to multiple offences committed against two children. Picture: Tiktok

Burton was arrested by the Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team. Picture: Matt Loxton

In mid-2021, a Catholic Church organisation put Helen in contact with the elite Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, who seized the laptop and began investigations.

“JACET are just fabulous, they have become family to us … the best people to work with in such a bad situation,” she said.

Six months later, Burton posted a TikTok of herself dancing while wearing women’s clothing, which went viral and eventually earned her 36,100 followers.

On her TikTok profile, Burton referred to herself as a “proud trans woman”.

“He has many faces for many people, and he’s always been that way, but he’s also very egotistical and has a need for attention,” Helen said.

“He’s all about attention and, if he can’t get it, he will create it.

“Burton had been really obsessed with his YouTube channel and, when it wasn’t that popular, he was really annoyed that he wasn’t becoming famous like he wanted.

“When the TikTok post blew up, there was instant gratification that just fed straight into his egotistical mindset.

“I think that, in his delusional mind, Richard doesn’t exist anymore and so therefore Rachel is not responsible for his criminal behaviour.”

NEVER FINISHED

Burton has filed an appeal against the court’s seven-year sentence. Picture: Tiktok

Helen said Burton’s court case had been “excruciating” for her family and the sentence handed down was “disappointing”.

“We have been in and out of court like tea bags in and out of a cup, and it all takes up so much of your life,” she said.

“It’s all time that’s been stolen from the children … you can’t get it back, and you can’t move forward.

“Then you get to the end of the process to be handed that sentence, and it’s like a booby prize … that’s been really hard for us.

“The prosecution is satisfied with the outcome so there’s no chance of an appeal by them – unfortunately, we are not satisfied at all.”

That, she said, made Burton’s appeal even more difficult to accept.

“It leaves you feeling the court case will never end because of his all-consuming need for attention, his egotistical behaviour,” she said.

“This is someone the court ruled was regretful, remorseful and sorry for their behaviour, but who still isn’t willing to serve what the court handed down.”

Helen said her family remained “terrified and traumatised by a monster” who “has never been, and still isn’t, accountable for his actions”.

“Nobody wants to move forward more dearly than us, but we still can’t put him behind us … it still feels like he’s winning,” she said.

“As a family, our feeling is that it’s never going to finish because he won’t let it finish – and our fears are that he will get out, and that he’s never going to let us go.”