Is It Rape If Everyone Is Asleep?

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 23rd, 2012, 12:11 PM

A 27-year-old man from northern Sweden charged with raping a sleeping woman has defended himself by claiming he too was asleep at the time.

The incident took place in June last summer in the village of Vilhelmina after the woman had passed out in a cabin following a night of heavy drinking.

The 27-year-old then began having sexual intercourse with the sleeping woman, according to the indictment, which was filed on Thursday in the Lycksele District Court.

As the woman was judged to be in a helpless state at the time of the incident, prosecutors have charged the man with rape.

But the man told investigators he was innocent as he too was asleep at the time of the alleged rape.

"I was awakened by her pushing me away and asking, 'Are you awake?'," the man said under questioning, according to the Aftonbladet newspaper.

The 27-year-old explained that he suffers from somnambulism and sexsomnia, an affliction whereby sufferers perform sexual acts while still asleep.

According to the man, the incident wasn't the first time he had woken up to find he'd had sex without knowing it.

He said that it happened on occasion that his former girlfriend would tell him when he woke up in the morning that he had had intercourse with her in his sleep.

While sexsomnia is rare, it is an accepted medical condition.

"This is very well-accepted as a diagnosis within the field of sleep medicine," neurologist Cramer Bornemann of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis told medical advice website WebbMD.

"It's different than having a sexual dream. It's full-fledged sexual behavior while asleep."

http://www.thelocal.se/39842/20120323/

**TKaz** · March 23rd, 2012, 12:38 PM

There was a guy who used sleep as a defense when he killed his wife...If I remember correctly I don't think that worked in his favor.

PRETTY sure if a guy started having sex with me I'd wake up enough to throw him off in his dazed state & wake him up with a lamp to the head.

**Aena** · March 23rd, 2012, 02:32 PM

I remembered that one guy who killed his mother-in-law and almost killed his father-in-law. It did work in his favor, he was found not guilty. I was surprised to read that the psychiatric community agrees that these things are disorders. Maybe he really was asleep, if it can be proven he has done these sorts of things in the past. I would tend to be more suspicious if it just happened this one time.

Regina v. Parks. Kenneth Parks, a young Canadian man, was acquitted in the 1987 murder of his mother-in-law after using the sleepwalking defense. On the night of the death, he arose from bed, drove 14 miles to the house of his in-laws—with whom he was said to be close—and strangled his father-in-law until the man passed out. He bludgeoned his mother-in-law with a tire iron and stabbed them both with a kitchen knife.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 23rd, 2012, 03:02 PM

Not only is it a real disorder, its been caught on tape during a sleep study:

Most episodes of sexsomnia are reported after the fact. There is, however, a case of sexsomnia with intercourse that was documented with nocturnal polysomnography. Interestingly, review of the video of the study showed that the patient's wife initiated foreplay while her husband was asleep and this lead to sexual intercourse without his waking up. (During polysomnography it is possible to verify that the person was sleeping based on EEG and other data).

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...0902/sexsomnia

**LeaveMeBe** · March 23rd, 2012, 03:55 PM

I remember studying about this in my Psychology course, so I know it's an accepted diagnosis. However, if this guy was suffering from it, he should have shared that information and given the males and females the choice whether or not to pass out in a room with him. If he knew it and didn't share the information, he is culpable in my opinion.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · March 23rd, 2012, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by LeaveMeBe

I remember studying about this in my Psychology course, so I know it's an accepted diagnosis. However, if this guy was suffering from it, he should have shared that information and given the males and females the choice whether or not to pass out in a room with him. If he knew it and didn't share the information, he is culpable in my opinion.

He may not have, until this came up, even realized it was an issue. He might not even know it's an actual diagnosis. Previously it happened with a girlfriend. It may not have entered his mind that it would happen with some girl he just happened to pass out with.

My husband snuggles with me in his sleep. He also has an irritating fondness for my bewbers in his sleep. I have never figured out how he can sleep with guys and not snuggle and feel them up... yet he never has (that we know of). Not that hubby sleeps a lot with guys, but they do end up in tight quarters sometimes on military forays or in his previous job where 4 guys shared one hotel room on construction jobs.

**Obsolete** · March 23rd, 2012, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by LeaveMeBe

I remember studying about this in my Psychology course, so I know it's an accepted diagnosis. However, if this guy was suffering from it, he should have shared that information and given the males and females the choice whether or not to pass out in a room with him. If he knew it and didn't share the information, he is culpable in my opinion.

I agree with you, but the devils advocate in me is compelling me to look at this from another point of view.

Example: A man is HIV positive and he goes on a hiking trip with an outdoor group. He falls, cuts himself open and is knocked unconscious. A member of the group comes to his aid and manages to contract the virus in the process. Is the man cuplable? Shouldn't he have the right to privacy?

**newstarshipsmell** · March 23rd, 2012, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by Aena

Regina v. Parks. Kenneth Parks, a young Canadian man, was acquitted in the 1987 murder of his mother-in-law after using the sleepwalking defense. On the night of the death, he arose from bed, drove 14 miles to the house of his in-laws—with whom he was said to be close—and strangled his father-in-law until the man passed out. He bludgeoned his mother-in-law with a tire iron and stabbed them both with a kitchen knife.

Thanks, I immediately thought of this story when reading the OP. However, my memory was that the suspect drove to the in-laws' house and crashed through their bedroom with his vehicle, killing them by car/truck. Am I thinking of some other story/incident or just grossly misremembering this one?

**LeaveMeBe** · March 23rd, 2012, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Dakota Valkyrie

He may not have, until this came up, even realized it was an issue. He might not even know it's an actual diagnosis. Previously it happened with a girlfriend. It may not have entered his mind that it would happen with some girl he just happened to pass out with.

My husband snuggles with me in his sleep. He also has an irritating fondness for my bewbers in his sleep. I have never figured out how he can sleep with guys and not snuggle and feel them up... yet he never has (that we know of). Not that hubby sleeps a lot with guys, but they do end up in tight quarters sometimes on military forays or in his previous job where 4 guys shared one hotel room on construction jobs.

I totally agree with you 100%. That's why I said if he knew he suffered from it then he is culpable.

My husband is the same way, except he likes the small of my back, my butt and my thighs. Mostly he just lightly runs his fingers up and down and it doesn't bother me at all. He hasn't bunked with any other guys in years (military and construction, too), so it might be quite an experiment to see what would happen. LOL!

**LeaveMeBe** · March 23rd, 2012, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Obsolete

I agree with you, but the devils advocate in me is compelling me to look at this from another point of view.

Example: A man is HIV positive and he goes on a hiking trip with an outdoor group. He falls, cuts himself open and is knocked unconscious. A member of the group comes to his aid and manages to contract the virus in the process. Is the man cuplable? Shouldn't he have the right to privacy?

Awwww, man. OK, I'll give it a whirl, although I am having a hard time with the analogy you gave. But I understand where you are coming from so here is my response. I can concede that the sexsomnia sufferer has a right to privacy, but the responsibility still falls to him to protect others from himself if he isn't willing to confide in them. If he knows that if he falls asleep next to someone, and due to his medical condition there is a greater liklihood that he is going to engage in sexual behavior he may be unaware of, then he takes precautions to not put himself or anyone else in that position.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · June 12th, 2012, 11:48 AM

A 28-year-old man from northern Sweden suspected of raping a woman in her sleep has been acquitted of all charges after a court agreed with the man's claims he too was asleep at the time.
[...]

The Lycksele District Court in northern Sweden agreed with the man's defence, ruling on Monday that the 28-year-old could very well have been sleeping when he started to have sex with the woman and thus acquitted him of all charges.

Prosecutor Lotta Sundström told VK that the court was split in its ruling, however.

"That means I'm probably going to appeal," she told the paper.

http://www.thelocal.se/41384/20120612/