A man raped a sleeping woman in her own bed after she gave him shelter from the rain.
The man attacked the woman in her own bed while her child slept in the next room has been sentenced to 10 and a half years.
Matthew Cawston, 27, knew the woman and had called at her home to help with a domestic emergency.
But when the job was finished he said he did not want to go home in the rain and the woman asked him to stay the night.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she has suffered from nightmares and flashbacks and had felt she had to move house following the attack.
She no longer invites visitors into her home and does not feel safe going out.
“Because he was sexually frustrated he has completely destroyed my confidence and trust in people and seriously affected my mental health…
“I can never put into words the true effect this has had on me, my daughter and my family, and will continue to have for a very long time – possibly forever.” she said.
Since the attack she has started self harming and has spoken to family about who would care for her daughter if anything happened to her, Mr Treble told the court.
A few days later after the attack, the victim texted him, asking: “Why did you do it? You had sex with me while I was asleep?”
The defendant replied: “I was horny. Sorry.” and asked if she was going to report him. The woman later told a college tutor and then the police.
Cawston, of Blackpool, was arrested and insisted he had never had sex with the woman without her consent.
Barbara Webster, defending, said Cawston has Autistic Spectrum Disorder and receives support from a social worker.
Ms Webster said: “It does not excuse what he did but it gives an insight into his behaviour.”
Sarah Armstrong, a social worker, said Cawston had “difficulties understanding relationship boundaries” and was “significantly exploited by people, both financially and materialistically, who he considered friends”.
“It is very clear to me that this offence has had a great impact on your victim.
“She described feeling like her life is on hold and can’t move forward until justice is done. I have also to consider the fact you are still a very young man and you have no previous convictions.
“Your own mental difficulties, your autism, no doubt played a significant part in your offending. I accept your remorse in this case is genuine.” Judge Sara Dodd, sentencing, said.
However, she said Cawston posed a very real risk to adult women he was in a relationship or friendship with.
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