A FEMALE American university professor has been found guilty of raping a severely disabled, cerebral palsy-stricken man whom she claimed to have a consensual relationship.

Dr Anna Stubblefield was convicted of two sexual assault charges for raping the mentally disabled 34-year old, known only as DJ, in her New Jersey office in 2011.

Dr Stubblefield’s lawyer told the jury: “As I told you on the first day of this trial, it was not a rape or sexual assault.”

Her lawyer said the married professor had worked hard to communicate with DJ by ‘facilitated communication’ and had taught his family how to use the method.

Facilitated communication is when an individual steadies the hand of a person who struggles to communicate because of tremors and helps them to type on a keyboard.

Mr Patton said he was ‘encouraged’ by the face that DJ could spell words, point to cards and share information with her, such as his birthday and a trip his brother was taking, reported The Daily Mail.

The lawyer said that “everyone agrees he [DJ] has substantial physical disabilities’ but added: “All evidence shows a mutually loving relationship and they made conscious decisions before going ahead.”

But the prosecutor Eric Plant said Dr Stubblefield preyed on DJ for her own “sexual gratification” and had sought to isolate him.

He added: “if she loved DJ the way she’s professed she did, she would not have acted the way she did. She put a person with cerebral palsy on an exercise mat on a dirty carpet. That’s love?

“The way a person feels about someone they abuse or rape, has nothing to do with it.”

Sentencing will occur at a later date.