Georgia Man Charged With Rape Claims He Was Sleepwalking, Police Say

A Lawrenceville, Georgia, man accused of rape has brushed off his alleged sex crime by sticking to a somnambulist defense, claiming he simply sleepwalked into the victim’s bed—and apparently sleep-removed her clothes, as well.

Ricardo Arturo Cole, Sr., 54, was arrested on Aug. 15 and charged with rape after he allegedly slipped into the sack with his son’s girlfriend and tried to have sex with her, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The incident reportedly happened on April 8, with the victim informing authorities about it more than a month later on May 11.

The victim said that she was in bed sleeping with her boyfriend at the house he lived in with Cole during the night of the incident, according to a police report. She felt someone enter the bed from behind her and assumed it was merely her significant other. That’s when the alleged perpetrator slid the woman’s garments down her body and tried to initiate sexual intercourse, the police report said, as the victim became aware that the person doing this was not her boyfriend at all.

“[The victim] said she turned around and realized that the male was not [her boyfriend], but was his father, Rick,” the police report said, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. “[She] said she pushed Rick away and asked what he was doing. [She] said Rick apologized and said he was sleepwalking.”

After the ordeal, the victim reportedly ceased all contact with both her boyfriend and his father, according to the police report.

It’s not clear if Cole currently has a lawyer, according to the Associated Press. Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department records show that Cole’s being held on no bond.

[Photo: Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office]