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In a bid to win his sexsomnia defence, he took the stand during his trial earlier this year in May, and offered past examples to support his claim that he was suffering from the sleep-sex disorder when he molested his daughter. He didn’t dispute the sexual assaults but maintained that he had no memory of them after falling asleep next to his daughter one night back in 2016.

He testified that his wife has told him that he used to touch her sexually in his sleep only for him to have no memory of it.

He also said he has sleep apnea and had trouble getting a good sleep at the appropriate time. He told court his sleep has greatly improved since using a CPAP machine.

His wife also took the stand in his defence and testified that her husband — for years — used to perform sexual acts on her while he was asleep. She said it hasn’t happened since he started using a CPAP machine in 2017.

Her testimony was supported by a second sleep study conducted after he started using a CPAP machine. (The breathing problem had been corrected and no parasomniac behaviour was noted, court heard.)

In the July 18 decision, Charbonneau noted that the accused had a hard childhood. He was sexually abused by adults. He went on to sexually abuse some of his siblings and worked as a teen prostitute. He has been diagnosed with ADHD, anti-social personality disorder and depression.

Dr. Paul Federoff, an expert psychiatrist, has been treating the man for years and says his risk to re-offend is nil, court heard. The man now sleeps only with his wife, has installed hand alarms on his bedroom door and sleeps with his CPAP machine which has cured his sleep apnea, court heard.