Man charged with sexually assaulting sedated wife

A Maricopa man faces one count of sexual assault against his sedated wife.

The woman, who suspected her husband was making nonconsensual sexual contact with her while she slept, put a surveillance camera in her bedroom, police said. She told police that in recent months she’d suspected and allegedly discovered past incidents of her husband making nonconsensual sexual contact with her while she was sleeping. The victim told police she takes sedative sleep medication. 

According to a probable cause statement, the surveillance camera caught the husband about 10 p.m. Friday having sexual contact without her consent. The wife sent the video to police on Sunday. 

InMaricopa is not identifying the defendant to protect the identity of the victim.

The woman told police that because of the medicine she was unaware of what was happening at the time. 

The video allegedly shows the husband taking off his clothes, climbing into bed and removing his wife’s pants while she appeared to be asleep, police said. He then climbed on her, and based on his body movements, police believe he committed a sex act without her consent, the probable cause statement said. The wife woke up with her husband on top of her, pushed him off and told him to stop, police said. The video shows him putting on his clothes and leaving the room, police said.

The woman told officers it was not the first incident in which her husband had nonconsensual sexual contact with her, police said. The woman provided police with text messages showing her husband allegedly admitting to previous nonconsensual sexual contact, the probable cause statement said.

During a police interview, the man told police he was familiar with his wife’s medications, including the sedative sleep aid. He told police he could not remember if they had sexual contact on the night of the reported incident.  

According to police, the husband did not want to answer any questions when asked about the surveillance video. 

The man was booked into Pinal County Jail, where he remained Tuesday morning, according to an online database. He has a court hearing scheduled for next week.