St. Cloud Man Charged With Raping a Sleeping Woman

ST. CLOUD -- A St. Cloud man is charged with raping a woman Saturday while she was unconscious.

According to the criminal complaint, 33-year-old Jermont Powell was caught having intercourse with the woman as she slept. He is charged with 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim who was helpless and a misdemeanor charge of violating no-contact order involving the female witness.

A witness told police she came into the room and saw Powell and the victim with their pants down and the woman sleeping. She yelled to the victim to wake up and saw Powell turn over on his side and pull his pants up.

The victim said she fell asleep hard after being up for 24 hours and after having some drinks. She said she never consented to sex and that Powell had been making advances throughout the day but she rebuked him.

Powell allegedly admitted to police he had sex with the woman but it was consensual and denied she was asleep at the time.