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Judge finds no assault due to ‘erotic dream state’
SASKATOON A woman who was in an “erotic dream state” when she removed some of her clothing and wrapped her naked torso around a man sitting beside her on the couch may have given the impression she was directing a “prolonged and provocative act” toward the man, a Saskatoon court has found. Justice Ron Mills found Paul Kut, 60, not guilty of sexual assault at Court of Queen’s Bench yesterday. Calling the facts “highly unusual,” Judge Mills found the complainant, whose name is protected by a publication ban, also acknowledged it’s possible she had removed her pants and underpants without help from the accused, while sleeping and dreaming about her estranged husband. The woman testified at a trial in December she awoke to find the older man touching her in a sexual manner. She told him to stop and he immediately did. At issue was whether this was a rare kind of sexual assault — the accidental kind — Judge Mills said. Judge Mills found that, while the woman did not consent and the act of sexual assault was proven, the accused lacked the necessary intention to commit the crime because he had a mistaken, but honest, belief she was consenting. The woman and her four children were staying overnight at the apartment of an elderly couple on July 30, 2007. Also present was Mr. Kut, with whom the woman was acquainted. Mr. Kut is 35 years older than the complainant and she had no interest in him, Judge Mills found. The woman testified she had experienced an erotic dream involving her
estranged husband and that she likely removed the clothing herself and
wrapped her legs around the accused. |