PIERRE (AP) – The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman with dementia, ruling that prosecutors didn’t have to prove whether he knew she couldn't consent to sex.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
PIERRE (AP) – The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman with dementia, ruling that prosecutors didn’t have to prove whether he knew she couldn't consent to sex.
A Pennington County jury in 2018 convicted Roger Jackson, now 73, of third-degree rape, which says it's a crime for any person to have sex with someone incapable of giving consent because of physical or mental incapacity.
He appealed his conviction, saying the state should have had to prove that Jackson knew the victim wasn’t mentally capable of giving consent and that the state should have questioned the victim, the Argus Leader reported.
The court this week decided that Roger Jackson didn’t have to know the 52-year-old woman wasn’t legally mentally capable of consenting to be held accountable for the assault.
The justices noted other parts of South Dakota law, including whether a victim is a minor or too intoxicated, where a criminal mindset isn’t required to commit a crime.
Jackson befriended the woman when she was at an assisted living facility in Rapid City in 2016 and continued to visit her when when was later moved to a dementia care facility.
