YOUNGSTOWN — Cristobal Hernandez III, 26, Creed Street, Struthers, was sentenced to one year in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of attempted sexual battery, a lower-level felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison.

During Hernandez’s plea and sentencing hearing, two versions of the offense were given — one by prosecutors in which Hernandez ignored repeated statements by the victim that she did not want to have sex with Hernandez, and one from Hernandez’s attorney that the victim was partially willing.

Kevin Day, assistant prosecutor, said Hernandez and the victim were both drinking at the same bar in Boardman and both were friends of the owner of the bar. When the bar closed, Hernandez took the woman to the bar owner’s home in Boardman.

“When they got there, Mr. Hernandez made multiple attempts to make passes, you might say, toward the victim,” Day said. “The victim shut him down every time, wasn’t interested, not interested.”

The victim went to sleep on a bed in a guest room in the home and awoke to Hernandez naked in the bed with her, trying to have sex with her.

Day said Hernandez “was not in any way, shape or form allowed to be in the room with her.” The offense occurred in February 2021.

When confronted, Hernandez told the woman he has sex with women in his sleep. He then ran from the house, Day said. Boardman police interviewed Hernandez the next day, and Hernandez told police he has a condition in which he has sex with women in his sleep called sexsomnia, Day said.

The www.researchgate.net website describes sexsomnia as “a variant of sleepwalking disorder.” It cited a case in England where a defendant was acquitted on three rape charges on the basis of sexsomnia.

Day said Hernandez told detectives this was the first time he had ever experienced sexsomnia and he had never been diagnosed with the disorder. Hernandez was convicted as a juvenile of gross sexual imposition, Day said.

Day asked Judge John Durkin to sentence Hernandez to 18 months in prison because of the “serious psychological harm” the victim suffered because the episode. He said the victim “had no personal relationship with him at all.”

Hernandez is required to register as a tier-3 sex offender, which requires him to register his address every 90 days for the rest of his life.

The victim told Durkin the incident caused her to have trouble sleeping, caused her to have panic attacks and nightmares, and experience depression and missed work. She said she has gotten counseling that has helped her cope with the difficulties she has had.

Frank Cassese, Hernandez’s attorney, said he will not dispute that Hernandez pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted sexual battery, but Cassese said he does dispute the facts the prosecutor’s office has given.

Cassese said the people in the home continued to drink and smoke marijuana into the early morning hours the next day. He said Hernandez and the woman were together in the bed. He said “at some point” the woman “does not want to continue whatever is happening, and my client leaves the room.”

Testing did not produce any evidence that Hernandez’s DNA was on the woman, Cassese said.

The judge said it is “certain that the victim has suffered psychological distress and harm,” adding that “there is no question in my mind” that Hernandez “went too far, that no means no, that drug usage — at least alcohol usage — was probably a contributing factor.”

erunyan@vindy.com