Wednesday, August 15, 2007

"I walk on concrete / I walk on sand / But I can't find / A safe place to stand."

Linked from The Daily Telegraph:

    Man cleared of sleepwalk sex with 15-year-old

    August 08, 2007 01:00am

    A BRITISH RAF mechanic who claimed he was sleepwalking when he had sex with a 15-year-old girl has been cleared of rape.

    Senior Aircraftsman Kenneth Ecott, 26, wept after a jury took two hours to find he was not responsible for his actions.

    Mr Ecott did not deny having sex with the girl, but said he had no memory of it happening.

    Instead he insisted he had a condition known as sexsomnia in which sufferers carry out indecent acts in their sleep.

    It was this affliction that made him climb naked on top of the girl at a friend's birthday party sleepover in Poole, Dorset, the Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

    The girl screamed when she awoke.

    Mr Ecott was said to have confessed to the girl's family and apologised for having sex with her.

    But when he was arrested in his barracks at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, he told police he was prone to sleepwalking.

    He claimed to have been in a state of automatism while with the girl, meaning he was not aware of his actions.

    His girlfriend told the court that he had fondled her in bed while asleep.
I'm only posting this article because look at how often this shit happens. Also, this account is so incomplete. Was there a, I don't know, doctor who said there's even such a thing as "sexsomnia"?

And, okay, he's cleared of "rape," but what about the fact that the girl was underage? I believe the age of consent in the U.K. is still 16. But, wait, let's not forget about the judge who thinks it's okay to rape 10-year-old girls as long as they look 16. So just par the course for the legal system there, I reckon.

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