A house guest who was supposed to be sleeping in a van in the drive has been jailed after he went back into the house and sexually assaulted a woman in her bed.
Ronald Hughes thought the victim wanted sexual contact with him because he had given her a back massage earlier in the evening, but she was horrified to wake up to find him touching her.
He lives near London but had gone to the house near Newton Abbot in August last year to visit the woman, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Hughes, aged 27, of Keywood Drive, Sunbury-on-Thames, denied assault by penetration but was found guilty by a jury after a three-day trial.
He was jailed for 18 months by Recorder Mr Jeremy Wright, who told him the sentence would have been double but for reports which revealed Hughes suffers from adult ADHD and a low IQ.
He told him: ‘I also note your statement to the effect that you must have misunderstood the signs. Within limits, I accept that these were unusual circumstances.
Mr Richard Crabb, prosecuting, said Hughes was visiting Devon and staying at the victim’s house but sleeping in a van outside because of lack of space.
‘He said he had given the woman a massage before she went to bed but she had never indicated any desire to have any further contact and was horrified when she woke to find him touching her.’
Mr Martin Salloway, defending, said: ‘The closest we are going to get to the truth in this case was the statement he made to the police that he had misread the signals.
‘He has to accept he did not take sufficient steps to make sure he had read the signals correctly.’