A 40-year-old Sydney man named Timothy Malcolm Rowland was found not guilty of raping a woman after receiving a diagnosis of "sexsomnia." After spending a night together in his Sydney residence in 2022, the guy was charged with having non-consensual sex with a lady.
 
During the seven-day jury trial, Rowland disclosed that he was having a sexsomnia attack. It is a medical disorder that causes sexual activity to occur when a person is sleeping.
 
The verdict was rendered just hours after the jury returned a query to Sydney's Downing Centre court's Judge john Pickering. They questioned the court on what happens if someone commits a crime while unconscious.

According to The Guardian, the court declared, "This is a really dangerous logic."
 
"The jury should not decide a case based on the laws they wished existed," he cautioned. Instead, it need to be founded on the existing legislation, which states that an individual cannot be convicted of a crime they did not intend to commit.
 
"We’re not about to punish people for acts that they have no lawful control over," the magistrate stated.
 
There are no regulations pertaining to sexosmania. There aren't any criminal offenses related to it. And you don't have the right to make laws," he said.
 
The course of the case
 
The jury was informed throughout the trial that Rowland and the lady arrived at his flat at approximately one in the morning following a cocktail party. The woman fell asleep on his bed after they had a nude bath together and drank some more wine.
 
When the woman awoke at around six in the morning, Rowland was having sex with her. Before she left his flat, she shoved him away and leaped out of bed.
 
The woman did not refute the sexsomnia claim.
 
How can one determine whether someone is asleep?
 
The jury questioned the judge what proof there was that someone was sleeping when the court had doubts about whether Rowland had slept during the conduct. It went on to say that why the case was brought forward if there was sufficient proof that he wasn't asleep?
 
The court dismissed the claim, stating that neither the jury nor the director of public prosecutions should have any influence in the decision to prosecute the case.
 
 
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G GOWTHAM

31/01/2025 11:01 AM