Attendants in a Superior Court in Connecticut were shocked on Tuesday when a man pleaded guilty to fourth-degree sexual assault and violation of probation for having sex with a woman after she died. 

Aaron Graser, 39, was sentenced to a year in prison and was not placed on the state’s sex offender registry because the judge determined “registration is not required for public safety based upon the facts in this case,” reported the Hartford Courant.

Graser’s case first began in January when he came across his girlfriend, who appeared slumped over and unconscious with heroin and drug paraphernalia on her lap.

According to detectives who questioned Graser after 911 was called, he checked to see if his girlfriend was breathing before intercourse.

“Aaron stated that he laid the victim down the bed and he rubbed her sternum,” said the warrant for his arrest. “Aaron stated he listened to see if the victim was breathing and he heard gurgling. Aaron stated he knew the victim hated having sex with him so he figured that the victim might wake up if he had sex with her.”

Graser then admitted that he tied the unidentified woman’s ankles and wrists to bed posts “because it was a fetish of his.” After he finished having sex with the corpse, he untied her, put her pants on and called in his neighbor, who was a former paramedic. When questioned by police, the neighbor said she believed the woman had been dead for a couple of hours.

An autopsy determined that the woman was dead when Graser had sex with her. When police first examined the body, they found ligature marks where Graser tied up her ankles and wrists. According to a medical examiner, there would have been bruises under her skin, has she still been alive. Because there were no bruises, the medical examiner determined there was no blood flowing at the time her wrists and ankles were bound.  

Although Graser said he heard the victim gurgling, a medical examiner explained that could have been decomposition gases escaping the woman’s body.

The woman’s cause of death was determined to be a drug overdose. Toxicology testing revealed high levels of fentanyl, heroin and another synthetic drug.

Graser was initially charged with second-degree sexual assault, but pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of fourth-degree sexual assault of a corpse.