The following case of immoral acts with children, observed by the author and reported in Friedreich’s Blätter, will serve to conclude this group,[[123]] so important in its legal bearings. It is the more important, in that a state of unconsciousness was established at the time of the act, and because, for allied reasons, the facts related in Latin show how a complicated and refined act becomes possible in such a state of unconsciousness.
Case 160. P., aged 49; married; hospital beneficiary. He was accused of having committed the following terrible acts with two girls—D., aged ten, and G., aged nine,—whom he had taken to his work-shop on May 25, 1883.
D. testifies: “I was in the meadow with G. and my sister J., aged three. P. called us into his shop and fastened the door. Tum nos exosculabatur, linguam in os meum demittere tentabat faciemque mihi lambebat; sustulit me in gremium, bracas aperuit, vestes meas sublevavit, digitis me in genitalibus titillabat et membro femina mea fricabat ita ut humida fierem. When I cried, he gave me twelve kreuzers, and threatened to shoot me if I told on him. At last he tried to persuade me to come again the next day.”
G. testified: “P. nates et genitalia D. æ exosculatus, iisdem me conatibus aggressus est. Deinde filiolum quoque tres annos natum in manus acceptum osculatus est nudatumque parti suæ virili appressit. Postea quæ nobis essent nomina interrogavit ac censuit, genitalia D. æ meis multo esse majora. Quin etiam nos impulit, ut membrum suum intueremur, manibus comprehenderemus et videremus, quantopere id esset erectum.”
At his examination, May 29th, P. said he had but an indistinct recollection of having fondled, caressed, and made presents to a little girl a short time before. If he had done anything more, it must have been in an irresponsible condition. Besides, he had suffered for years with weakness in his head, as result of an injury. On June 22d he knew nothing of the events of May 25th, and nothing of his examination on May 29th. This amnesia was shown, also, on cross-examination.
P. comes of a family affected with cerebral disease; a brother was epileptic. P. was formerly a drinker. Years before, he had actually suffered an injury to his head. Since then, from time to time, he has had attacks of mental disturbance, introduced by moroseness, irritability, tendency to alcoholic excesses, apprehension, and delusions of persecution sufficient to induce threats and deeds of violence. At the same time, he would have auditory hyperæsthesia, vertigo, headache, and cerebral congestion,—all this, with great mental confusion and amnesia for the whole period of the attack, which would sometimes last for weeks.
During the intervals he was subject to headache, which started from the seat of injury on the head (a small scar in the skin over the right temple), which was painful on pressure. With exacerbation of the headache, he became very irritable, morose to an extent that inclined him to suicide, and mentally like one drunk. In 1879, while in such a state, he made an impulsive attempt at suicide, of which he afterward had no memory. Soon after this, being sent to hospital, he gave the impression of being epileptic, and, for a long time, was treated with pot. bromide. At the end of 1879 he was taken to the infirmary, no actual epileptic attack having been observed.
During his lucid intervals he was a virtuous, industrious, good-natured man, and had never shown any sexual excitement; and, until this time, never sexual inclinations, even during his mental confusion. Moreover, until lately, he had lived with his wife. At the time of the criminal act, he had shown signs of an approaching attack, and had asked the physician to prescribe pot. bromide.
P. asserted that, since the injury to his head, he had been intolerant of heat and alcohol, which immediately brought on headache and confusion. The medical examination proved the truth of his assertions about mental weakness, irritability, and poor sleep.
If pressure were made at the seat of the trauma, P. became congested, irritable, confused, and trembled all over; he appeared excited; consciousness was disturbed, and remained so for hours.