INFO:

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 trial and 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 and 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. 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. 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.