A court ruling is currently causing a stir in Germany: although a former prosecutor raped his own son, the 53-year-old only received a suspended sentence and is free. He justified himself in court by saying he was sleepwalking.
Given the brutality of the crime, which was against one’s own flesh and blood, the suspended sentence is difficult for many to understand. The crime took place in 2019: the eight-year-old son slept with his father in his parents’ bed, while the mother slept with her baby in the next room. The attack took place in the middle of the night: the boy was woken from his sleep when his father grabbed him by the penis and also touched his anus.
Child forced to perform oral sex
M. then pushed his genitals in the boy’s face and forced him to perform oral sex. When his wife confronted him about his son’s accusations the next morning, he claimed he could remember nothing. Finally, he drove to work and reported to his manager. After sick leave, he was forced to take early retirement. His wife divorced him.
The defense attorney explained crime as a “sexsomnia” disease
The former prosecutor also insisted in court that he had no memory of the incident and that he was not conscious. His lawyer argued that he suffered from the sleep disorder sexsomnia, in which those affected perform sexual acts on themselves and others even when unconscious. When you wake up, the memories of what happened are missing.
The verdict upset many social media users, as in this post:
This theory was supported by an ex-girlfriend of the suspect: “When I heard about the accusations, I remembered similar situations in our relationship from about twenty years ago,” the 42-year-old witness explained in court. She reported on several incidents in which 53-year-olds were deeply asleep during sex. She called it ‘sleepwalking intercourse’.
Witness and ex-girlfriend supported thesis
However, the presiding judge in the Lübeck courtroom, Helga von Lukowicz, found the witness’s statement unbelievable. “In our opinion, the events described by the witness did not occur.” Often positive memories of their time together predominated after a successful divorce – this could have prompted the witness to make a sympathetic statement. The suspect’s now divorced wife had never noticed sexsomnia in M. – the court assumed that the defense had tried to construct such situations. The trial expert also suspects that the suspect’s professional and personal problems led to the crime: “The violent abuse of the son briefly gave him back his sense of power,” the judge summarized her theory.
The first reviewer believed the sexsomnia thesis
Explosive: There was almost no process at all. Three proceedings had already been stopped by the Kiel public prosecutor’s office “due to doubts about guilt”. In an initial report, the sexsomnia thesis was assessed as plausible. It was only thanks to the persistence of the son’s lawyers that M. still had to appear in court, writes the “Frankfurter Allgemeine”.
The relatively mild verdict surprised many observers: the former prosecutor was sentenced to 18 months in prison with probation – the sentence is not yet final.
The judges consider the crime a “less serious matter” because it was a spontaneous act in a difficult living situation. The defendant had lost a lot as a result – in addition to his job and marriage, he would also lose his pension if the verdict became final, the ‘Bild’ reports.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
