Sleepwalker acquitted of sexual assault

[Honey]

A man has been acquitted of sexually assaulting a young girl after medical experts said he was sleepwalking.

Alan Ball, 35, climbed into bed with the child and kissed her on the lips after drinking heavily at a New Year's Eve house party last year.
But a judge found him not guilty of sexual assault when he heard two experts agreed Mr Ball was sleepwalking at the time and did not know what he was doing.
The former lorry driver today said he lost his job and became a social outcast following the allegations.
Fiorella Brereton, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court Mr Ball was sleepwalking when he got into bed with the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
She said two reports were prepared to investigate Mr Ball's sleepwalking claim because of the serious nature of the alleged sexual offence against the girl.
Miss Brereton said: "He has a history of sleepwalking typical of that type of behaviour of not knowing what he was doing. Sleepwalking is also within the family.
"He had drunk a significant amount of alcohol that night. The experts consider because he did not carry out more activity when he got into bed with her, it is more concurrent with sleepwalking and the evidence leads both experts to the opinion he had no intention of abuse."
The Crown Prosecution Service and the girl's family declined to offer evidence against Mr Ball and Judge Stuart Baker delivered a not guilty verdict to charges of sexual assault against a child under 13.
Father-of-one Mr Ball, of Sephton Drive, Ormskirk, said: "I knew I was innocent, but not a day went by when it went through my head 'what if I end up in jail for something I have not done?'
"Even when I went round to friends' houses where there were young kids, you wonder whether it goes through their minds."
While facing the charges, Mr Ball was only able to see his five-year-old daughter during supervised visits.
He added: "I used to take her swimming and to the fairground at Southport, and not being able to tell her why I could not... sometimes I had to ignore her phone calls.
"Not being able to have my child that was like a 12-month sentence and it is over now."

Sleepwalker acquitted of sexual assault - Telegraph

[McJag]

Ummm-I still have some doubts.

[Elisa]

Oh gimme a break! So this is going to be the latest tactic to get off. It's all a little too convenient for my taste.

[micashell]

Ormskirk, said: "I knew I was innocent, but not a day went by when it went through my head 'what if I end up in jail for something I have not done?'

The point is, he did do it. Whether he was conscious of it or not, he still did it. Whether he remembers it or not, the girl was assaulted. These are memories she will have to live with.

[Sarzy]

Oh gimme a break! So this is going to be the latest tactic to get off. It's all a little too convenient for my taste.

Yup. My thoughts too. I know people can do very odd things while sleepwalking, but this sounds a bit suss. It's a hard one to call.

[Just Kill Me]

What the fuck... so did he wake up and immediately stop what he was doing and apologize profusely? What a pile of shit.

[witchcurlgirl]

Totally crazy. But there are cases on record where sleepwalkers have been acquitted of murder

From The Book of Lists 3:

"A.F." Case
"A. F. " was a gun fancier and a hunter, and kept loaded firearms in his room. His father, with similar interests, slept in the adjoining room. Hearing a bump against the connecting door early one morning, "A.F.", still asleep, hollered "You dog, what do you want here?" and fired the gun near to his hand. The intruder turned out to be his father.

Boshears Case
Willis Boshears was an American Army sergeant stationed in England, drinking in a British pub on New Year's Eve. After a while he returned to his apartment with a young couple. He went to sleep on the floor, where the woman was already asleep. When he woke up he found he had killed the woman; terrified, he hid the body miles from the apartment.

Fraser Case
Simon Fraser, of Glasgow, Scotland, often dreamed that a beast had invaded his home at night. One time, he dreamed that a white beast had come up through the floor. He seized it and dashed it to the ground. He woke up to find he had killed his infant son.

Gnypiuk Case
Wasyl Gnypiuk, a Polish immigrant (to England) had suffered Nazi internment, which caused him to have nightmares; in one of these, he dreamed of fighting back. In fact, he was in the home of his landlady, and when he woke up it turned out he had beaten her to death.

Griggs Case
Esther Griggs, resident of London and a mother of three, dreamed one night her house was on fire. Screaming "save my children!" though asleep, Ms. Griggs threw her baby into the street.

Kiger Case
Jo Ann Kiger, a teenager, was asleep when she took a revolver in each hand, poised to defend her family against a "monster." She fired, and fatally shot her brother and her father.

Ledru Case

Robert Ledru, a French police detective, was asked to investigate a murder on the beach. Examining the evidence--the fatal bullet and some footprints--he decided he had been sleepwalking on the beach and fired the fatal shot. He turned himself in.

Pollard Case
William Pollard was a farmer whose neighbors knew him well as a sleepwalker and sleepworker--doing his chicken-farm chores while fast asleep. One night he dreamed he was fighting with a marauding stranger. When his wife awakened him, he found he had killed their daughter.

How the Law Dealt with These Eight

The volume says how the law dealt with them, adding that Western law recognizes sleepwalking as a defense but is otherwise not consistent. "Griggs and Pollard were never charged; 'A. F.,' Kiger, and Boshears were acquitted; Fraser and Ledru were acquitted but ordered by the court to sleep henceforth only by themselves, in locked rooms; while Gnypiuk, denied an appeal to the British House of Lords, was hanged."

[Just Kill Me]

Yeah I've heard of one of the murder ones... that shit is just so crazy.

[Rica]

I'm on the fence with this one, because people CAN do crazy shit will sleep walking...and have been videotaped doing it and their reaction is usually 'wtf'