Woman receives compensation after rape case over 'sexsomnia' dropped in UK

A woman from the UK received 67,000 Australian dollars [$86,000 USD] as compensation after the rape case against her was dropped following allegations that she may be suffering from “sexsomnia.”

Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, 32, called police in 2017. She told them she believed she had been raped in her sleep.

She described waking up half-naked and finding her necklace broken on the floor.

Three years later, shortly before the trial began, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the charges.

Two sleep experts said it was possible that McCrossen-Nethercott had suffered an episode of sexsomnia.

Sexsomnia, also known as sex while sleeping, occurs when a person performs sexual acts while sleeping but appears to be awake and consenting.

Like sleepwalking, it is a parasomnia, an abnormal activity that occurs during a certain type of sleep.

The proceedings were discontinued and the defendant was acquitted.

McCrossen-Nethercott has now received compensation from the CPS.

Now the CPS has issued an “undeserved apology” and said it is “committed to improving every aspect of the way it deals with life-changing crimes like rape”.

In her response, McCrossen-Nethercott said the CPS had taken him “to the darkest points of my life” and that it “felt like a great triumph to be able to hold them accountable.”

The woman's lawyers said it was “extremely rare” for the CPS to make such a payout.