CEO and President of Canadian firm Boreal Metals Corp. Karl Richard Antonius has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and denied having any knowledge of sex with a woman he went on a blind date with in September 2015, claiming that he has a disorder called “sexsomnia”, the Vancouver Sun reported.
Sexsomnia is a form of parasomnia, when an individual engages in sex while being asleep.
The 51-year-old mining company executive used the rare defence argument during the trial in the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on 26 November. The alleged assault took place in September 2015 after the purported victim went to Antonius’ place in the Fairmont Pacific Rim luxury hotel, following their blind date, while claiming that she had lost the keys to her own apartment. She was said to have accepted the mining tycoon’s invitation and changed into a pair of his shorts and T-shirt prior to going to bed. She also claims she had no interest in having a sexual relationship with him and slapped his hands when he reportedly tried to grab her.
The alleged victim, who cannot be named due to a court order, testified that she later woke up to Antonius engaging in sexual intercourse with her, without any consent being given. The businessman denied any recollection of the sexual act, arguing that his next memory after falling asleep was him standing in front of the fridge in the kitchen. He then claimed to have seen a light in the bathroom where the alleged victim was, who told him that she wanted to go home. The defendant said that they got dressed and went to hail a taxi, with the victim reportedly acting angry and rejecting Antonius’ goodbye kiss.
While replying to the question from his defence lawyer Bill Smart on whether there was any indication that he had sex with alleged victim, Antonius said “no”.
“I didn’t invite her back to the place to have sex”, said Antonius during his testimony on Wednesday. “I brought her back to the hotel because she didn’t have her key and she had nowhere to go”.
Crown counsel Alan Ip said during cross-examination of the defendant that Antonius was maintaining a “charade” with his claims of having a sleep disorder. The trial is expected to resume in January and will hear testimony from experts on the issue of sexsomnia.