A Montreal photographer who sexually assaulted a friend during a “sexsomnia” episode was eventually found not criminally responsible but has been on the sex offender registry for 20 years.
• Also read: Rape of a friend: he calls himself a sexomniac and wants to be acquitted
• Also read: Sexual assault: The accused suffered from sexsomnia, according to a psychiatrist
“He committed sexual assault but was mentally ill,” Judge André Perreault said before delivering his verdict in Yannick Giguère’s case at the Montreal Courthouse on Tuesday.
This case, which the Crown itself described as “rare and unusual”, occurred in July 2018. That day the 46-year-old accused met a friend. They had had several drinks of alcohol before ending up at his home with another woman.
Photo from Yannick Giguère’s Facebook page
The accused and the victim had slept in the same bed, but during the night Giguère sexually abused them “mechanically”, then went to the toilet and continued to sleep. Confronted with his gestures, Giguère had said he suffered from sexual somnambulism, so much so that he was unaware of his gestures.
An expert and an ex
An ex-spouse had testified in his favor, saying he had experienced “about 15 to 20” episodes of the genre, while an expert testified about the condition and concluded it was “plausible” that the accused was sexomnic.
“It’s a mental disorder when the body wakes up but not the mind,” pleaded Laurence Juillet, defender.
Crown Prosecutor Me Bruno Ménard claimed Giguère lacked credibility and should be found guilty. After a thorough review of the evidence, the judge ruled in favor of non-criminal liability.
Archive photo
Bruno Menard, attorney.
“It’s a well-founded and well-considered decision, even if it wasn’t what we wanted,” commented Me Ménard.
Sitting in the courtroom, the victim welcomed the decision with satisfaction.
“The sexual assault hasn’t been denied, he can’t get away with it with a slap,” commented Andréanne Slythe, who had the publication ban lifted in her name to show the victims don’t have to hide – they don’t want to.
risk to the public
Ms Slythe now wants to move on. But for Giguère, the case is far from closed. He now faces the Mental Disorder Review Board, which could keep him under their yoke until he no longer poses a threat to the public.
For his part, the judge warned that sex offenders are “ill-advised” to commit crimes by inventing sexual sleepwalking because it is a complex and sophisticated defense that is under scrutiny by the judiciary.
Do you have any information about this story that you would like to share with us?
Do you have a scoop that might be of interest to our readers?