Married ‘sexsomniac’ gets six years in prison after ‘involuntarily’ raping a colleague in his sleep due to his rare condition
A married man who claimed he was a ‘sexsomniac’ and acted ‘involuntarily’ after raping a colleague in his sleep has been jailed six years after the attack.
The 30-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s anonymity, was found guilty of one charge of rape at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin last December.
The man first tried to convince the victim to sleep with him and made two sexual advances, before undressing and raping her after she fell asleep. log reports.
Judge Kerida Naidoo today sentenced the man to eight years in prison, with the last two years suspended under strict conditions, including the condition that the man place himself under the supervision of the probation service.
He also said that while the man accepted he had had non-consensual sex with the woman, he did not accept the misconduct and claimed his actions were ‘involuntary’.
The man’s legal team claimed he suffered from a sleep disorder called sexsomnia, which causes him to engage in sexual behavior while he sleeps.
A married man who claimed he was a ‘sexsomniac’ and acted ‘involuntarily’ after raping a colleague in his sleep has been jailed six years after the attack (file image)
The court heard how the man and woman attended a party on February 8, 2018, before going to his apartment in Dublin, arriving at around 5.30am the next day.
The victim took the man to his bedroom before returning to the living room where she planned to sleep.
She refused his first invitation to sleep in his bed, but accepted the second time because it was cold in the living room, the court was told.
The woman was fully clothed when she went to sleep, but later woke up to find the man raping her.
She asked him what he was doing and he just replied, “You wanted me.” The woman left his flat and reported the rape to the gardai a few days later.
When the man was questioned by police, he claimed that nothing had happened and only remembered going to bed.
DNA testing showed that there was semen on the woman’s underwear and her tights.
‘When you’ve been abused like that, it feels like someone has taken a piece of you,” the woman told the court in her victim impact statement.
“You feel like there’s something disgusting inside you, and you can’t do anything to make yourself feel clean.”
When imposing the sentence, the judge also pointed out the impact the rape had on the victim.
Kathleen Leader SC, defending the man, said he ‘expresses his sincere and sincere remorse’ to the woman for what happened.
When pronouncing his sentence, the judge took into account the 19 testimonies submitted to the court by his wife, family, former employers and friends.
He said the man had a chance at rehabilitation, but his unwillingness to accept wrongdoing could make him less suitable.
The 30-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s anonymity, was found guilty of one charge of rape at the Central Criminal Court (pictured) in Dublin last December.
This comes after A A Swedish man has had his rape conviction overturned – after an appeal court heard the attack may have been the result of ‘sexsomnia’.
Mikael Halvarsson was acquitted after experts said he had no memory of the alleged attack and was asleep during the incident.
Halvarsson was accused after a woman called police claiming she had been attacked on April 2, 2014, according to court documents.
Translated court documents showed they had slept in the same bed with separate blankets. ABC news reports.
It adds that Halvarsson was still sleeping in her bed when police arrived.
But the Sundsvall Court of Appeal heard how a previous girlfriend said he had once tried to have sex with her while she was sleeping and that he had acted confused when she stopped him.
Along with this testimony, Halvarsson’s mother confirmed that he had suffered from disturbed sleep patterns in the past, the documents show.