Sydney man acquitted of child sex charges because of ‘sexsomnia’

Warning: Disturbing content. A Sydney man has been acquitted of having sex and engaging in sexual acts with three young boys after a judge found it was reasonably possible he was suffering from “sexsomnia” and asleep at the time. Aaron Mendis, 32, stood trial in the NSW District Court inside Sydney’s Downing Centre before he was this week found not guilty of 15 charges, including 11 counts of having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years, relating to three young boys. His legal team successfully argued that it could not be excluded that he was asleep during all of the incidents and that his actions were involuntary. He stood trial alleged to have had sex with one boy on multiple occasions and he was also alleged to have indecently assaulted two other boys. He faced a judge-alone trial over the last month before he was on Friday found not guilty of all counts after Judge Phillip Mahony concluded the defence of automatism could not be ruled out. “Having regard to the whole of the evidence I find that it was a reasonable possibility at the time of each alleged offence that the accused was asleep, and suffering from sexsomnia and therefore the acts carried out were not either willed or voluntary acts of the accused,” Judge Mahoney said. The court heard there was no dispute that the sexual acts occurred. However, Mr Mendis’ legal team raised the defence of automatism, arguing that the incidents occurred while he was asleep. Mr Mendis was not related to any of the complainants. The court heard that Mendis suffered from a psychological condition, sexsomnia, also known as “sleep sex” in which sexual behaviour is initiated while asleep. The court heard that one of the complainants was between 14 and 15 when they engaged in penile-anal sex and oral sex, with all of the incidents occurring during sleepovers. On one occasion, the boy felt Mr Mendis’ erect penis on his lower back and that the complainant moved his hand inside Mr Mendis’ shorts before they had anal sex. He also stood trial on allegations he placed another boy’s hand on his penis, on the outside of his clothing, and he touched another boys’ genitals, with the incidents happening during sleepovers or on camping trips. The court heard that 96 per cent of sexsomnia patients have complete amnesia of their sexual actions during sleep and are “typically upset when they become aware of them”. And Mr Mendis reported having no recall of the alleged sexual offending. The court heard that one of the boys described that during one of the incidents, Mendis was “falling in and out of sleep and was going between quiet and then talking”. The court also heard that participating in any form of sexual contact was inconsistent with his religious beliefs and he had abstained from sex with his partner for five years. He also denied having any sexual interest in males or children. One expert concluded “there was no doubt” Mendis suffered from sexsomnia, while another said the diagnosis was “difficult to exclude”. The court was told that Mendis grinded his teeth, kicked and moved his limbs and talked in his sleep. He was also known to hug people in his sleep, and had a family history of parasomnia, the court was told. “(Mr Mendis’ defence) submitted that the unchallenged evidence of (the complainants) and all other witnesses was that the accused appeared to be asleep when physical contact was made,” Judge Mahoney said. “The accused had been observed for the entirety of his life to act involuntarily in his sleep in a myriad of ways, including conduct which could be perceived as affectionate.” The case centred on whether the Crown prosecution could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Mendis was not suffering from sexsomnia at the time of the alleged offences. The court was told that one of the complainants reported that during the incidents Mr Mendis’ eyes were “generally closed” and “he was never fully awake and that he seemed like he was asleep”. Another of the other alleged victims said that when he confronted Mr Mendis the morning following one incident, he seemed “shocked”, said he was sorry and “I was asleep”. Judge Mahoney, in handing down his verdict, pointed to the evidence of one psychiatrist and sleep specialist who said that the boys’ evidence “strongly suggested” that Mr Mendis was “asleep when the offences occurred” “There were no suggestions that he was fully conscious when the incidents occurred, he had no recall of the events and his behaviours when confronted were typical for genuine sexsomnia patients,” Judge Mahoney said. Domestic Violence helplines