Swedish ‘Sexomniac’ Acquitted of Rape Charges
A Swedish man was acquitted of rape charges after an appeals court found the man could have been asleep during the attack and cited “sexomnia’’ as reason for his release.
ABC News reported that Mikael Halvarsson, of Sundsvall, Sweden, was accused after the victim woke up as Halvarsson was allegedly assaulting her in April of this year. They had been sleeping in the same bed but with separate blankets and, when the victim called the police in the morning, they arrived to find Halvarsson still asleep. In the appeal, Halvarsson’s ex-girlfriend testified that he had tried to have sex with her while she was sleeping and that he acted confused when she stopped him. Halvarsson’s mother confirmed that he has had sleep pattern issues in the past.
“Usually, people are very scared and also quite confused as to what’s going on,’’ said Dr. Kingman Strohl, a director of research at the Sleep Center at Case Medical Center in Cleveland. Strohl, who has no connection to the case in Sweden, stressed the importance of doctors paying particular attention to people who claim they were asleep when they committed a crime. “Red flags that could signal a person is faking symptoms would include actions that are more refined and responsive. A sleepwalker will start walking into a chair and make no move to get around it.’’
According to Strohl, sexomnia is one of several sleep behaviors that are more common if a person is very tired or has taken sleep aids. Though sexomnia is a real and studied sleep disorder, Dr. Strohl and his colleagues emphasize that it’s rare and to be careful of people utilizing this diagnosis to their advantage.
Click here to read the full ABC News report.
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