Is 'sexsomnia' a load of rubbish?
RAF mechanic Kenneth Ecott was acquitted of raping a girl on the grounds that he has 'sexsomnia', a pseudo-sounding condition, which meant that he involuntarily carries out sexual actions in his sleep. What research has been done into this condition? Is it just the word of those who claim to have it that has deemed that is it a real condition? His girlfriend's testimony that he had fondled her is not proof that it, or this incident, was actually involuntary.
Answers:
Sounds like hooey.
Sleep sex or sexsomnia is a form of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) parasomnia (similar to sleepwalking) that causes people to commit sexual acts while they are asleep.
The first doctor to coin the term "Sleep sex" was Dr. David Saul Rosenfeld, a neurologist and sleep doctor from Los Angeles, California. The proposed medical diagnosis is NREM Arousal Parasomnia - Sexual Behaviour in Sleep, and is considered to be a distinct variant of sleepwalking/confusional arousals (ICSD 2).
The condition was defined by three researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa in a paper called "Sexsomnia — A New Parasomnia?" published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry in June 2003.
On 30 November 2005, a Toronto court acquitted a man of sexual assault after he was diagnosed with sleep sex disorder, although prosecutors have filed an appeal of the acquittal as of February 2006.
In Britain a man from York was cleared of three counts of rape on 19 December 2005.
In Australia, a woman was reported as leaving her house at night and having sex with strangers while sleepwalking.
I'd certainly be interested in how it's diagnosed just in case I wake up with the wrong person!
Lots of research, very rare, has only been a successful defence a handful of times and during these cases they had to prove they had sleep related problems prior to the incident, such as sleep walking etc.
Absolute rubbish in my opinion. Apparently he wasn't too out of it to put on a condom.
I think this is a load of rubish used to get some ritch **** off the hook for being a distusting excuse of a human being rape is rape in my opinion i can't belive the lengths they go nowadays and they let him off on that! oh great now every rapist can get off the hook not that they already don't
It amazes me how gullible Juries are, having been on one, I know.
let's ask the girl he raped or her parents or her friends how they feel about it, you think they give a crap about this lame-*** excuse.you are telling me that some guy is FORCING an unwilling partner to have sex with him and manages to sleep through all the fighting back and screaming etc that would be accomanying this raping and still he stays asleep and that he can not only get and maintain an erection but perform the whole act and still never wake up even after ejaculation...the sleeping afterwards part is about the only line of baloney I would even be close to believeing. I hate this pseudo- disease crap that people make up in order to try to get out of trouble nad there is always some crazy lunatic out there with a supposed degree willing to "name and study the disease" spend your time and money studying something else like how to make healthy chocolate
I really couldn't tell what's going on in this jury's head...
Only I believe that if I was the father of the 15 years old, I'd do some sleep killing...
There is some scientific evidence and research on the condition which would tend to give it credibility. Remember, mental illness used to be considered "possession" by the devil, among other things. If people can walk, eat and drive cars while asleep, why not sex?
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