A married man who claimed he is a ‘sexsomniac’ and acted ‘involuntarily’ after he raped a work colleague in his sleep has been jailed six years after the attack.
The 30-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, was found guilty of one count of rape at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin last December.
The man first tried to convince the victim to get into bed with him and made two sexual advances, before undressing and raping her once she had fallen asleep, the Journal reports.
Justice Kerida Naidoo sentenced the man to eight years in prison today, with the final two years suspended on strict conditions, including that the man places himself under the supervision of the Probation Service.
He also said while the man accepted that he had non-consensual sex with the woman, he did not accept wrongdoing and claimed his actions were ‘involuntary’.
The man’s legal team claimed that he suffered from a sleep disorder called sexsomnia, which causes a person to engage in sexual behaviour while asleep.
A married man who claimed he is a ‘sexsomniac’ and acted ‘involuntarily’ after he raped a work colleague in his sleep has been jailed six years after the attack (file image)
The court heard how the man and the woman attended a party on February 8, 2018, after which they went to his Dublin apartment, where they arrived around 5.30am the next day.
The victim brought the man to his bedroom, before returning to the living room where she intended 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 she 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 nothing had happened and he only remembered going to bed.
DNA evidence proved there was semen on the woman’s underwear and on her tights.
‘When you’ve been violated in that way, it feels like somebody has taken a piece of you,’ the woman told the court in her victim impact statement.
‘You feel like something disgusting has been inside you, and there’s nothing you can do to make yourself feel clean.’
When imposing the sentence, the judge also highlighted the impact the rape had on the victim.
Kathleen Leader SC, defending, said he ‘expresses his genuine and sincere remorse’ towards the woman over what happened.
The judge took the 19 testimonials that were handed to the court from his wife, family, former employers and friends into consideration when handing down his sentence.
He said the man had a chance at rehabilitation, but his unwillingness to accept wrongdoing could make him less of a candidate for this.
The 30-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, was found guilty of one count of rape at the Central Criminal Court (pictured) in Dublin last December
This comes after a Swedish man had his rape conviction overturned – after an appeal court heard the attack may have been the result of ‘sexsomnia’.
Mikael Halvarsson was cleared of the charge after experts said he had no memory of the alleged assault and was asleep during the incident.
Halvarsson was accused after a woman called police claiming she had been attacked on April 2, 2014, court documents reveal.
Translated court documents revealed that they had been sleeping in the same bed with separate blankets, abc News reports.
It adds that Halvarsson was still asleep in her bed when police arrived.
But Sundsvall appeals court 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 sleeping patterns in the past, the documents revealed.